On the Edge of Twilight
by Guppy O Doom
Summary: Skyler was just a normal boy with normal troubles, that is until his life changed forever. An accident leaves him stranded in a body and world he doesn't understand. With the help of a man in green and an evil imp he must find a way back home, and possibly save the world at the same time. Gb. OC not marysue.
1. Proulouge

**Hey everybody! Thanks for checking out my story. It's my first attempt at a full on story so forgive me if updates aren't always right on time, I'll do my best to keep up. It starts off a little slow but it gets a lot better in the next chapter(trust me) so just stick with it through this one...please. I would also enjoy helpful criticism, anything I can work on to improve the story and my writing would be greatly appreciated.**

**So, anyways, disclaimers: I do not own the copyright to The Legend of Zelda, sadly. This is a purely for fun endeavor and no profit will be made, so, yeah... don't sue.**

**Ok, so here we go, the beginning!**

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Prologue: In the Beginning

Death, such a morbidly fascinating topic. I had always wondered about death, mulled it over, a dreary topic I suppose but quite interesting. I always wondered how I would die, when, where, why, and possibly who. I'd like to say that my assumptions were right and that, as I had so often bragged to myself, I would not fear death. I was wrong.

As I stared into the eyes of my executioner I couldn't help but feel fear, fear so great it had me trembling. But then I remembered why, I remembered _them_ my reason for fighting far past when I was needed, the reason I had made it this far in the first place. My trembling slowly slowed and I fell resolute in my path, I would die for them, for those I cared for, so I could protect them from a greater evil.

But wait, I'm getting ahead of myself. You probably want to know the whole story, how it started, the exiting points and the dull, my whole adventure. Well I guess I will indulge you. Hmm, now where is the beginning… was it when I met him, no to far. I guess I will start the day before the accident, the day before my life changed forever.

(LINE BREAK)

"BBRRRIIINNNG!" the shrill noise burst out into the still air, startling me from sleep.

"Who, what, where!" I shouted sitting up quickly, covers falling off my frame. Honing in on the noise I found my alarm clock stuttering across my night stand, letting out the loud and obnoxious sound. "Noooo, why today," I groaned. Snatching my clock off the stand I shut it off, dropping it on the floor. "Stupid alarm won't let me sleep in… even on a Saturday," I grumbled to myself, flopping back into bed. About five seconds passed before I burst out of bed, "Wait, it's that day!"

Stumbling across my room I pulled off my night shirt and put on a fresh one, stripping down my sleeping shorts I did the same with some jeans. Yawning I walked quickly out my door and down the narrow hallway into the bathroom, narrowly avoiding the door in my semi-awake state. Looking around I spotted my green toothbrush resting in the corner of the counter. Squeezing some toothpaste onto it I quickly brushed my teeth.

Now that I was starting to wake up I took notice of my surroundings. My dull brown eyes stared back at me from the mirror, my blonde bangs coming down to my eyebrows, framing my gaunt face. Spitting and rinsing I stood up, taking enough time to proudly notice my new frame. In the past year I had shot up in height, no longer was I the shortest in my class and at nearly 5'8'' I was quite tall for fourteen.

Sliding out of the bathroom door I walked down the hallway, softly whistling some tune that had gotten stuck in my head during the night. Suddenly my foot slid out from underneath me, sending me crashing into the ground with a startled, "Oomph."

"Uugh," rubbing my sore back side I looked around for the culprit and found a small sackcloth doll laying on the floor.

"Sarah," I called out exasperatedly, "Stop leaving your toys lying around!"

"Sorry Skyler," came the meek sounding reply from the room to my right.

Letting out another sigh I picked up the doll and tossed it through the crack in her doorway. Standing up fully I continued down the hall and to the stairs. Descending as a rapid pace I jumped the last two steps, reveling in the loud thump I made upon contact. Let me tell you, being big is fun!

Walking into the kitchen I pulled a slice of bread from the bread box and popped it into the toaster. I then proceeded to sit down and stare at it, willing it to cook faster. After a wait that felt way too long the toaster made an excited, "Ding!" and out popped the toast. Reaching out I grabbed it before it could fall back down.

"Gahh, hot!" I said, juggling the molten piece of bread between my hands. Dropping in on the table I prodded it until it was the right eating temperature. In case you can't tell I'm very serious about my food, maximum enjoyment can only be obtained through carful monitoring of the cooking process. Popping the toast in my mouth I set off across the kitchen, reaching the far side I wrenched open the door and called out through my toast, "I'mph offp!"

Closing the door behind me I raced off down the rickety staircase that led up to our apartment. Today was Saturday and a holiday, so not only did I have no school but my part time job was off to. Today there would be no sweaty straining around screaming children, just me and my friends. Now don't get me wrong, I love my job, teaching martial arts to the next generation is a joy, but you can only take so much little kid before it starts to overwhelm you.

Coming back to the present, I had just reached the end of my street and was waiting for the crosswalk light to turn green. The bad part of this neighborhood was this street… well that and crime. Right after a wide bend in the road was a little crosswalk with a stoplight over it, cars would race around the corner and miss it all the time so you had to be careful crossing. Just last week a neighbor's cat had been run over on the crosswalk, poor Muffins, I liked him.

The light changed from its repressing red to an encouraging green and I quickly crossed the walkway. I had to hurry, today was going to be fun and I didn't want to miss any of it. My two best friends, Jenny and Phil, were going to meet up with me at the park downtown. Today was going to be a mix of movies, games, and fun.

The sun was shining brightly today, a sign that seemed to say, 'Today is going to be a great day!' Quickening my pace I marched across the sidewalk, lights just barely beginning to turn on in most houses around me I merrily continued on my way. Now why leave so early some might ask. Well, it's true that we weren't supposed to meet up until ten, but my bike had broken down and it was a several hour walk to the park. Why not get your parents to drive you? Well that is because my father had left years ago and my mother had resorted to drinking, so she could rarely ever drive legally, not that it stopped her.

And so I walked… and walked… and walked some more. The dreary street ways slowly passed by and the sun began climbing steadily into the sky. In order to pass the time I began playing, 'Spot the Unusual,' it was a game that Jenny had come up with nearly two years ago.

_"In 'Spot the Unusual' you must be very focused," Jenny began in a serious tone, standing in front of Phil and I like a patronizing teacher. "You can't lapse in concentration once or you might miss It." she said, stressing the It._

_ "Miss what?" Phil asked in a bored voice._

_ "IT!" Jenny shouted, "The Unusual, the Fantastic, all the cool or creepy things that go on in the world." She was waving her arms in fantastic gestures for emphasis._

_ "Yeah, ok," Phil tried again, "but what exactly is It?"_

_ Jenny puffed out her cheeks in exasperation, pausing for a second to think while looking around, "Like that over there," she said pointing, "see over there by the fire hydrant? The creepy grocery store man looks like he's handing off drugs."_

_ Sure enough the grocery store manager in question was discreetly passing a brown paper bag to a man in a hoody who was passing several bills back. Looking over his shoulder, the man quickly exchanged the items and they separated as fast as they could._

_ "No way," Phil said squinting, "that just strange."_

_ "See," Jenny beamed, "I told you so."_

_ "Not really, I bet I can do better," he said, boasting._

_ "Nuhuh, there is no way you could beat me at my own game," Jenny retorted._

_ I laughed at my friend's antics as they began trying to outdo each other, racing to find the next weird thing._

A smile graced my face at the fond memory. It had become a tradition when ever we were bored to play the game, and so far we had found many unusual things in the streets of our city. Today though, I couldn't seem to find much. Aside from the average shenanigans that the delinquent high schoolers were up to, like graffiti and mooning passer buyers, there wasn't anything good.

And so I passed my time by continuing my search for the interesting.

(LINE BREAK)

Two hours later found me at the park downtown, thirty minutes early. Sighing while looking at my watch I decided to catch up on some sleep. Walking over to one of the benches I lay down and quickly drifted off.

After what felt like two minutes I was awakened by a long stick being pressed into my cheek. Two jabs latter I grabbed it and snapped it apart, sitting up and opening my eyes. Jenny was standing there with a smile on her face and a splintered stick in her hand.

"About time, I was going to let you sleep longer but the Phil came and you know how impatient he is," she said with a miscevious grin.

I just glared at her while rubbing my cheek.

"I told you it was a bad idea," Phil broke in, "You know how Skyler is about his beauty rest." He ended with a smirk.

Breaking out into a smile I laughed, retorting, "Yeah but you're the one who really needs it Phil, maybe a couple hours more sleep will help fix that face of yours."

Phil laughed throatily, his large frame shaking. Phil was big, as in husky big. He wasn't necessarily fat but he had really broad shoulders and was still pretty short so his girth wasn't spread out evenly. He had sandy brown hair with lots of natural blonde highlights. Phil was the more serious guy in our group.

"Come on you guys," Jenny broke in, "We should get going, we only have all day." She said the last part sarcastically. Jenny was a spunky brunette with a dazzling smile. She was the ring leader of our group, the glue that held us together. She used that and her age to assert her dominance over me and Phil, insisting that a birthday six months ahead of ours meant she was better by divine nature. Being the youngest person in our group sucked, but my recent growth spurt made up for it. Anyways it was impossible to dislike Jenny. Her green eyes were always full of excitement and her small frame was always bouncing, especially when she was excited. "Hurry up, that new zombie move came out today and I want to see it before the theaters get to crowded."

"Okay, okay," I said trying to calm her down, "Slow down for a second, I still have to get up." Making a scene of getting up as slowly as humanly possible I smirked as I saw Jenny's impatient face grow steadily worse.

"Enough!" she finally said grabbing my hand and pulling me out of my half sitting position, "Zombies, now!" The cool thing about Jenny is that she was in to all the things Phil and I were. Action, games, movies, books, you name it and Jenny would almost certainly like it. So far the only thing we had found she didn't like were Brussels sprouts.

And so with a bouncing Jenny we made our way to the theaters.

(LINE BREAK)

Five o'clock found us sitting in Phil's living room, watching another episode of some foreign anime he had imported. One thing that really united us was our love of Japan. In truth we had first met at our elementary schools Japanese club. Jenny had started it in hopes of finding others who shared her fascination and lo and behold, in came Phil and I.

Others had joined our club over the years, but most didn't last past the first month. Apparently our 'obsession' was a little too intense and we scared off even the Asians. The only other member of our club was Sally, a shy, glasses wearing girl who loved Japan as much as we did. We tried to invite her to hang out with us, but she turned us down every time so we only really saw her at the club.

She had turned us down on today as well which was a shame, seeing how awesome it was. We saw Jenny's zombie movie, '_Death Walks Again 2'_ basically and hour of screaming girls and bloody zombie bits, classic Jenny. After that we went out for lunch at a little hole in the wall taco shop. Horrible premises but really good tacos. Something about the meat there just has that 'wow' factor, either that or it's laced with something. So far the vote stands 1 laced to 1 really good meat with Phil still undecided.

After out meal Jenny managed to convinced us to come over to her house to play Zelda, which basically meant, 'Watch me while I play the game and you sit in the corner and listen to me complain about any flaws the game has' time. I tell you, she has a seriously unhealthy obsession with those games. If you asked her she could probably quote the whole dialog from any of the games… word for word. So after messing around and watching Jenny beat Wind Waker for the umpteenth time we managed to convince her to do something else.

That pretty much brings us up to date. Jenny complained a lot about not having enough 'Zelda Time' but Phil and I were less than sympathetic. We arrived a Phil's house, popped in a DVD and here we are.

"Common, can't we at least get some pop corn," Jenny whined.

"Just wait, this is the good part," Phil replied. Jenny huffed and folded her arms over her chest into complaint position, glaring between Phil and the TV. After about five minutes Phil got uncomfortable enough to cave, "Alright, alright. I'll go get some pop corn." And to answer your question, yes, Jenny scowls are very scary.

Of course Jenny perked up immediately, "Thanks Phil." She called out after him. I vaguely heard him grumble something that sounded suspiciously like curse. With Phil gone and the movie paused Jenny's attention span withered. After fiddling around for a second and trying to decide what to do she looked to me, "So how's the family doing."

While not a 'forbidden' subject, my family life was usually left untouched, so I could tell that Jenny was very bored at the moment. "Ok I guess," I replied with a sigh, "Mom's managed to hold on to her new job so food this month wasn't to big a problem." My mother had resorted to alcoholism after my father's departure and had trouble holding onto a job. The alimony from my father was barely enough to cover our living expenses so whenever my mom was between jobs I had to scrounge up food money. Luckily my martial arts instructor is kind and offered me a good job teaching when he was busy. The perks of being a second degree black belt were nice. "Yeah, all in all not to shabby."

"Oh that's good," she said, "My family's doing great—" With these words Jenny launched into a longwinded discussion about how her dads new business was doing so well and all that stuff. I don't think she was trying to be mean about her having more money, Jenny's just clueless sometimes, but it still hurt a little. Luckily I was saved by Phil arriving with the popcorn.

We resumed the movie and for several hours all my problems were lost to the magic of computer animation. By the end of the show it was getting late, looking outside I was disheartened to find it raining.

"Dang man, I'm going to have to walk home in the rain." I complained.

"If you wait a while I'm sure my mom could take you," Phil said.

"Naw, its ok, my homes not to far from here." Phil's house was located about a ten minute walk from mine. Over the course of the day we had been picked up by Phil's mother and brought over from Jenny's. "Plus I don't want to inconvenience you mother."

"I'm sure it'll be fine with her," Phil replied.

"It's okay, anyways your mom has to take Jenny home." Paul groaned at that.

"Hey, I'm not that bad," Jenny huffed.

Paul groaned again, "Yeah but I have to be in the car to, and it's like a twenty minute drive."

I laughed at that and with a wave and a quick good bye I was out the door and on my way home. The rain was just a light drizzle now and actually fairly warm, so I wasn't complaining. I actually liked the rain, it didn't happen much in my deserty hometown.

Whistling bland tunes I slowly made my way home, basking in the rain.

(LINE BREAK)

I instantly knew something was wrong. I had just climbed the rickety staircase that led to my apartment when I found the door left open, that _never_ happened. I made sure of it.

Entering the kitchen and quickly closing the door behind me I noticed how all the lights in the kitchen, and most of the apartment were off. The only light in the whole building was coming from the direction of the living room. I slowly made my way into it, looking around.

On the floor to the left I spied my mother, passed out on the ground with an empty bottle next to her.

"Skyler!" the shrill cry came from behind me. Turning around quickly I spotted my sister being held by a grungy looking man who held a knife at her throat.

"Don't move or the girl gets it," he hissed threateningly.

Quickly taking stock of the situation I slowly held up my hands to show that I was unarmed, "Now now, calm down, there's no need for that. What do you want?" I said in a slow, calm voice. I slowly began edging my way to the coffee table, my miniscule movements hardly noticeable.

The man licked his lips before looking across the room in a shifty manner, "… I heard you've got sugar here." He finally said.

'_What?! He broke into my house and took my sister hostage for sugar!'_ I thought. Seeing my confused expression just seemed to infuriate the man, he shook my sister roughly, pushing the knife in harder.

"You know, sugar, the powder, Crack!" he shouted out the last word, a maniacal look on his face.

'_Wha—cocaine? Why the heck would we have that here?'_ I thought. Letting none of my emotion show through I slowly closed the last inches between me and the coffee table. Now all I needed was an opening.

"Calm down, you can take as much as you want, it's over there," I said pointing towards the kitchen. He turned towards where I was pointing, '_There!'_

Quick as a flash I pulled the butter knife that had been resting on the table and threw it underhand at the man. As it was leaving my hand I reached for a bobby pin that had been resting near the knife and threw it at the man in a wide sweeping motion. With a large clang the butter knife hit the hand holding the knife, causing said knife to spin off to the left.

Just as the man was beginning to process the pain the bobby pin made contact with his eye. With an earsplitting shriek he dropped Sarah and clutched at his eye. By now I was already halfway across the room. Two more steps and I was upon him. Slugging the larger man in the chest and causing him to bend foreword with a pain "Oomph," I grabbed his head and slammed it into my knee. With a cracking sound he went limp and fell to the floor. Dropping down I punched him in the back of the neck, just to make sure he was really out for the count.

"Sarah are you ok?" I asked walking over and gathering my little sister up into a hug. She just started crying and blathering incomprehensibly. "Calm down Sarah," I said, slowly rubbing her back and holding her close, "It's ok, it's all over."

After about ten minutes she calmed down enough to tell me what happened. "M—mom came home late again and was d—drinking." She got out between sad hiccups, "She just sat in the d—door way and drank. T—then he came." She scowled at the man when she said it, "He snuck up b—behind mommy and hit her in the head. T—then he c—came towards me and started yelling about w—where _it_ was. I d—don't even know what i—it is." She chocked out.

"It's okay,' I said, "Now I need you to be tough and wait here for a minute." After receiving a nod I set her down gently and got up. Walking towards that man I heard him groan, a sharp kick to the side quieted him down. Dragging his body to the kitchen was hard but I managed. Pulling him up into a chair I got some chicken wire and tied his arms behind the chair. Tying his ankles together I then tied them to the chair too. Wrapping his upper torso in the wire I made sure he was secured to the chair and that there was no way for him to move.

Leaving the unconscious man in the kitchen I returned to the living room and found Sarah next to mom. "Sarah," she looked up at me with big eyes, "Go get the phone and call 911, tell them a robber broke in." I said. "Don't worry about mom, I make sure she's alright." Sarah nodded and ran across the room to the phone and started to dial.

Crouching down next to mom I carefully rolled her onto her side, wincing when I saw the injury. A bleeding crack was visible in her scalp, a blunt injury, probably made by the butt of the mans knife. Looking around I spotted an abandoned pillowcase on the floor, left over from laundry day. Carefully raising mothers head I wadded up the pillow case and pressed it into the wound.

Sarah returned and hovered over me and sniffled, "The p—police say they're on their way."

"Good, okay Sarah, I'm going to need you to hold this to moms head," I said, indicating the pillow case.

"Why?" she questioned. Her tear stained face pulling into a frown, "You're not leaving right?"

"I have to Sarah, who knows how long it will take an ambulance to get here. I need you to hold this to moms head while I go get Dr. Fitzgerald." I said looking her in the eyes. Dr. Fitzgerald was a surgeon who lived in the big house down the block, he would know how to stop the bleeding. "Got it." I ended.

She looked at me a few seconds before nodding and crouching down to take my place, carefully cradling my moms head before applying pressure to the pillow case. I stood up and walked towards the kitchen, "Hurry back." Came the quiet command. I just nodded.

Walking through the kitchen I thumped the back of the mans head again, stubborn piece of work didn't want to stay unconscious. Walking across the room I opened the door and went outside. The rain was really pouring now. I thundered down the slick steps, not missing a beat.

'_Why would the man think we had cocaine in our house.'_ The thought popped into my head, '_Nobody in my house would deal drugs… not even mom. He must have been delusional, or maybe he followed my mom home from the bar, mistaking her for someone else.'_ I frowned, why didn't my mom lock the door behind her. Drunk or not she knew that robberies happened frequently in this neighborhood. I wasn't as much angry about the door as I was that she had allowed that man to get a hold of Sarah. She was a sweet girl and deserved a better family than she had, definitely better than a family who let her get into a hostage situation. This last thought made me grimace.

I slowly calmed down, allowing the anger to leave me, like the steam that radiated from me in the rain. Coming to the crosswalk down the street I notice how foggy it was, I could barely see the other side of the street. I waited until I saw the faint green light indicating it was safe to cross… I should have waited.

I was halfway across before it happened. With a horrible screech a car materialized out of the fog to my left. Time seemed to slow, I could see the car coming, the water flying from its skidding tires. I even noticed the slight crack in the windshield, but I couldn't move. It was like my body was encased in gelatin, all my movements were sluggish, my reaction speed gone.

With a sickening thud I felt myself get lifted off the ground. A sense of weightlessness overtook me as I saw the street fly by beneath me. I hit the ground and suddenly everything was spinning. I felt the flesh tear off my face as I skidded across the asphalt but I felt no pain. I came rolling to a stop, the rain falling all around me, but I couldn't hear it. I vaguely noticed someone rushing out of their car with a panicked look on their face but that didn't hold my attention. I could see a viscous red fluid slowly forming a puddle around my head, it looked beautiful in the light of the cars headlamps, sparkling and radiating, it seemed alive.

My vision slowly started to tunnel around me, everything started to fade. I saw a pair of sneakers step in front of me, a black form kneeling over me. I wanted to move, but I couldn't. My last thoughts were, '_Wait, I still need to get Dr. Fitzgerald… mom needs help.'_ Everything faded to black.

(LINE BREAK)

Deep within the caverns of a land long lost to time, a giant form slowly stirred. With the sound of cracking stone two heavily lidded eyes opened, casting their golden glow into the darkness. Sound similar to that of an avalanche echoed out as the stone wall around the eyes seemed to shift, revealing that they were part of the creature, not just what it was resting on. A voice laden with power and prophecy thundered through the empty expanse,

**"Brethren, we have found the ONE."**

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**Ok, so I'd love to hear what you thought. So review! Anyway thanks for reading and sorry about the lack of anything Zelda, it improves in the next chapter. **

**Guppy out.**


	2. Adventure 1: A New World

Heyah, the Guppy is back with another chapter!... What, no applause? Okay, okay, sorry it took so long to post but school just started up and the first week was pretty hectick. Anyways, in the future I'll try to update once a week.

Yes! A review! Thank you **ArchShadow24**, I hope to keep you interested. Sorry for any gramatical errors, I have no beta so I have to do it all myself. I try to catch everything but sometimes things slip past.

Disclaimer: I do not own Zelda or any nintendo copyrights. I do, however, own Skyler. Look, I even got him a collar! *Holds up a pink, bedazzled, insult to dogwear of all kinds*

Skyler: WTF I'm not wearing that!

Me: Oh come on, you know you want to. *Begins advancing menacingly*

Skyler: ... *Flee's from the room after a moments pause*

Well I hope you enjoy this chapter.

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Adventure 1: A New World

The first thing my heavily taxed senses noticed was light. Bright, obnoxious, wakes you up when you don't want to light.

The second thing I noticed was the pain. Every moving part of my body throbbed like the after effects of a hard workout when you had gone months without one. It was definitely not pleasant.

I groaned slightly as I turned over onto my side. It felt so comfortable, soft, malleable, and slightly damp… wait damp? I cracked open my eyes and was temporarily blinded by the bright sunlight. Once my eyes cleared up I noticed I was surrounded by green, lots and lots of green. The comfortable substance I had been sleeping on was actually moss.

Sitting up quickly I groaned as my muscles protested. Sure enough I was in a forest. '_How the heck did I get here?'_ I wracked my brain for any explanation. '_So I was walking down the street in the rain, and then what?'_ nothing unusual there,_ 'Wait the car!'_ With a start I beganquickly patting down my body and glancing over it I noticed that, yes, I had aches and pains, but nothing like what getting hit by a car would cause. No broken bones, my shirt was bloodstain free, no signs of an accident whatsoever. '_So what the heck happened?'_ I thought to myself.

Looking around I realized that no amount of sitting around and thinking would get me out of this situation. I was lost in a large forest in the middle of who knows where, my first priority should be to try and find a river. While the water might attract dangerous wildlife, it would also supply one of the clearest ways to civilization. People lived by a water supply, a fact as old as time.

"Gwah!" I cried out. In my hasty attempt to stand up I had put weight on my left arm, causing it to twinge painfully. Looking down I noticed something strange on my left hand. It was a large black triangle with an upside down triangle cut out of the center. '_When the heck did I get a tattoo!?' _I was quite sure that in my working memory I had never entered a tattoo parlor, let alone gotten one.

This situation was getting weirder by the second. Casting away my observation of the strange tattoo for the time being, I began looking for a river. Normally I would look for a place where the growth started to get thicker, but this was a large forest, not the sparse desert plains I was used too.

"Great, one thing after another," I muttered darkly to myself. I decided to pick a direction and start walking. The decision was made through a time proven concept.

"Enie menie miny moe… " I said, accenting each word by pointing off in random directions, "… to choose the best one and you are _it_." Left it is.

(LINE BREAK)

My originally strong stride had morphed into a more self loathing walk that tends to happen after being on your feet for far longer than you were ever meant to. I had no idea what time it was, but the sun was starting to set and the woods were dimming.

I was cranky and mad at everything in general. Nothing good had happened at all today. I couldn't find any water at all. River, lake, heck, I'd even settle for a rain puddle, but there was nothing. How in heck can it be so green with no water?

Not only was water scarce but I swear the trees can move. They'd reach out with there viny roots and make me trip and land on my face. After about the seventh time my face made contact with the dirt I stopped trying to clean it off. And to make things worse, the itch in my left arm had gotten progressively painful as the day went on. It had started out isolated to mainly my wrist and hand, but as the day wore on it had edged farther and farther up my arm. What started out as an annoying prickle had progressed into a throbbing pain, accented with each step I took.

Finally I decided I'd had enough, looking around for a place to rest I noticed a place where the trees were less dense. Walking over I found a large clearing with, guess what, a river on the far end. I'd spent the entire day on a near parallel to the river. Slapping my forehead my hand slowly slid down my face, I felt like kicking something… hard. "Great going Skyler, you managed to avoid exactly what you were looking for." I muttered to myself.

It was already getting dark and too late to really continue on so I made a base camp near the side of the river. Gathering tree branches, dead leafs, and what ever else I could find that would burn I created a skeleton for a tepee fire. After five of six seconds of staring at the wood I realize I had nothing to start a fire with.

"Uugh, why me?" I asked the sky, sitting back on my heels. Deciding after thirty seconds that it wasn't going to answer I walked over to the nearest tree, removed my shoes and laid back against it. This was going to be a long night.

(LINE BREAK)

The rising sun found me slowly marching down the riverside. The brisk morning air bothered me little. I slept horribly. The entire day I was walking I saw not a shred of animal life, but as soon as I try to sleep I hear hordes of things charging around me. Now don't get me wrong, I wasn't scared… ok, maybe a little, but can you blame me? Dark forest full of unfamiliar sounds and noises, it's like something out of a horror show.

But that wasn't the worst. The stupid tree I was resting on managed to have the prickliest bark I had ever had the displeasure of sleeping on. Not to mention the continually rising pain of my left arm. Now about an inch past my elbow, I tried my hardest to avoid jolting it in any way. Needless to say, I got no sleep.

So it was with dark bags under my eyes that I continued my march. I was following the current of the river downstream, because rivers empty out into larger bodies of water, and larger bodies of water means a higher likelihood of finding people.

With a disgruntled sigh I kicked yet another pebble into the river. I could tell it was going to be a long day.

Two hours later I heard something unusual. Stopping I listened carefully and… There! I definitely heard it, it sounded like someone screaming. I burst into action, running in the direction of the scream, steadily gaining speed as I avoided roots and tree.

"GAAAHH!" the frightened scream came yet again, it sounded like a child. Putting on another burst of speed I charged across the forest. Up ahead I noticed a drop off. Skidding to a halt I looked down at a steep drop of nearly twenty feet.

"Darn," the scream came again, "No time to find another way down, got to hurry." I said to myself. Turning around I lowered myself over the edge, ignoring the pain in my shoulder. Putting my ring and pointer finger under my middle and forming my right hand into the shape of a spear I plunged it into the hard packed dirt that made up the side of the drop off. Stabbing my left hand into the dirt I quickly descended the edge. At about ten feet from the ground I let go of the side of the wall and dropped the rest of the way.

Absorbing the impact in my knees I took off across the ground.

"H-h-help!" the scream came one last time, off to my right. Turning I saw a large root gouged out to form a walkway leading up to a tree. Dashing up the root I was confronted by an odd sight. A small boy was being shoved into a cage with a monkey by a large, purple, thing.

_'Good gosh and all things crikey, what the heck is that?!'_ My mental musing were cut short by the second purple thing in the area noticing me. Letting out a war cry the loin clothed monstrosity charged at me, swinging around a club.

Reflex and years of mental conditioning kicked in as I ducked under the wild swing of the club. Reaching up I grabbed the arm of the goblin thing as it reach the other side of its body. Trapping the arm I stood up and pulled it out straight. First rule of unarmed vs. armed combat, disable the opponents weapon.

Three quick downward thrust of my forearm snapped the goblins arm and it fell to the ground howling in agony. I hissed in pain as I shook my forearm out. Hearing a strangled cry from behind I ducked and barley avoided the club of the second goblin. This one was much smarter than the last and was using a diagonal swinging motion so I couldn't duck underneath its arm.

I waited for a moment and… There! Dashing forward I locked its arm into place as is swung around its body. "KIIIAIII!" with a loud battle cry I swung my elbow into its face and was rewarded with a cracking sound as its jaw broke.

"Yeah, suck on that!" I shouted as I backed away from the groaning body of the goblin.

"Look out!" I heard a small voice behind me shout out. But it was too late. An intense pain suddenly split across my head. Stumbling forward several steps I turned around and saw the other goblin, whose arm I had broken standing with a bloodied club in its other arm. Reaching up I felt a warm substance on the back of my head.

Slightly dizzy from the strike I wasn't able to avoid its next attack and it came crashing down on my left arm. "Arrgh!" I yelped out as my arm made a hideous cracking noise. The pain was so intense I fell to one knee. Clutching my arm I looked up to see the goblin raising its club.

Jumping to the side at the last moment I barely avoided the club as it crashed down beside me. No way was I going down here. I didn't survive a car crash to be killed by some creepy purple goblin. Rising to my feet I let loose several swift kicks. Roundhouse to the chest, Sidekick to the solar plexus, followed by a back kick to the head.

Panting from the exertion I watched as the goblin hit the ground. Pain exploded from my side as I was tossed several feet across the floor. Groaning I looked up to see the second goblin holding its club with one hand, and its bleeding jaw with the other. Looking over I saw the first goblin standing up to.

'_No way, the kicks I put into that thing would have floored a two hundred pound man!'_ I watched with horror as they got closer. I heard the child in the cage whimper. I tried to stand but the pain in my arm made me sink to my knees.

The first goblin raised its club in the air when out of now where,

"HIIAH!" a large stick came in contact with the things head and blew it through the air. The second goblin tried to turn around but a yellow blur tackled into it throwing across the ground. The blur was on it in seconds, plunging the stick into its chest. With a horrible scream the goblin started to shrivel into itself before exploding into black sludge. Looking over I saw a pile of similar goo where the other goblin had been thrown.

My vision started to tunnel, and the last thing I saw before it faded to black was a blond boy walking towards me with a large wooden stick in his hand.

(LINE BREAK)

"Uungh," I opened my bleary eyes looked around a room I had never seen before. It seems waking up in places I've never been has become a common occurrence. Sitting up I let out a soft moan as my head throbbed. Reaching up I tenderly felt along the back of my scalp. A wet cloth was pressed up against it. Tenderly peeling it back I felt along my head and found a long slender scab stretching across it.

Lifting up my left arm I noticed it seemed heavier than normal. Looking over it I noticed that it was wrapped tightly in gauze and white bandages. '_I swear, if this arm keeps giving me problems I'll just chop it off!'_ I thought grumpily to myself. Hey, don't judge, if you had a broken arm and a _very_ painful headache you'd be a little grumpy to.

Swinging my legs over the bed I began the arduous task of standing up. My body protested the whole time, but there was no way I was going to lie around in a house full of who knows what and wait for something scary to come find me. Those creepy purple goblins were enough for me, I mean seriously! What sentient creature goes around in just a loin cloth now days?

After five minutes, lots of sweaty exertion, and the mother of all headaches I finally managed to stand up. I was about to congratulate myself when the door suddenly slammed open and with a manly shout (coughgirlish-squeelcough) I fell over backwards into the bed.

"Oh good your awake." a happy voice greeted me. Looking up I saw the blond boy from the forest in front of me, closing the door to the room behind him. "I was starting to get a bit worried, you've been out for hours."

I stared dumbly him for a second. On closer inspection he wasn't really a boy anymore. He was at least my age, probably two or three years older. He was well built with a wide grin on his face, showing a row of straight white teeth.

His smile faded slightly, "Are you ok?" he asked.

"Uuuh, kinda." I pushed out. '_Great going, not two words out of your mouth and you already look like an idiot.' _I mentally berated myself. Trying again, "Yeah, not too bad but I have a horrid headache." There, that was better.

"Oh," he said rubbing the back of his head and looking slightly embarrassed, "Yeah, let me get you something for that." He walked over to a large box and reached over the side. After a couple of seconds of rummaging he let out a triumphant, "A-ha!" and returned with a large bottle in his hand.

"Here," he said handing me the bottle, "It's red potion, it should help with your headache."

"Red… Potion," I said, trying out the words. Now where had I heard that before? Looking at the bottle filled with a viscous red fluid I glanced disbelievingly back at the boy. He gave an encouraging nod of the head, '_What the heck,'_ I thought, _'If he was trying to kill me he could have done it while I was asleep'_ Pulling the cork stopper out I downed the bottle in one go.

"Uugh, that stuff is horrid," I said, grimacing. It tasted like old fish mixed with five to many herbs and left to ferment for weeks. The boy just laughed. After about five seconds a look of wonder crossed my face. The headache and dull throbbing in my arm seemed to disappear. They weren't completely gone but they were definitely diminished. Looking up at him a sudden thought crossed my mind, "If you don't mind me asking, where am I and who are you?"

"Ah, sorry," he said sheepishly, "I forgot I hadn't introduced myself. The names Link, nice to meet you." He held out his hand to shake.

About three seconds passed before I was able to respond in any way. I gripped his hand and said in a dazed tone, "Nice to meet you Link, I'm Skyler." '_Link, what the heck, like the video game character?'_ The name itself wasn't what threw me off the most, it was the fact that bits and pieces of yesterdays fight were coming back and I didn't like the story they were telling. I just had to make sure, "What were those weird purple things that attacked me back in the forest?"

"Oh yeah, those, sorry about the trouble. They were bubblins, quite unusual for them to be this close to the edge of the forest though, they're usually farther in." The blood slowly drained from my face but Link seemed not to notice, "On the topic of bubblins though, the rest of the villagers want to meet you. We can't thank you enough for risking yourself by helping Talo…" the rest of his speech faded from my comprehension as I fell deeper into my own thoughts.

He suddenly yanked me up by the hand saying, "Well, let's go meet them."

(LINE BREAK)

Most of the walk to the village was a blur. I remember thinking, '_I wonder what game I'm in?'_ when we exited the tree house. After about a minute of these kinds of thoughts common sense kicked in. '_There is no possible way I'm in the world of Zelda. I must be in a comma or something.'_ Suddenly I had an epiphany, "_Wait, the car crash, that was real. I must have been knocked unconscious and ended up in a hospital. All the pain I've been experiencing is from the memory of the crash. I'm probably in a coma dream right now!'_

Once that was settled I felt a whole lot better. I wasn't awake right now, just asleep in a hospital somewhere, I'd wake up in a while and all this would be a dream. With that came the realization I had been hit by a car.

_'Dang, that's going to hurt… Well, I might as well enjoy this dream while it lasts, I'll play along until I wake up.'_ I happily settled on the idea.

A nudge to the side brought me out of my reverie. Looking up I saw a group of people surrounding me, two girls and three men, one of them Link who was standing next to me. One of the girls, a kind looking woman with a very pregnant belly said, "Are you sure he's ok? Maybe the head injury was worse than we thought."

Waving my hands in front of me I said, "Oh no, I'm fine. Just caught up in my own thoughts is all." I ended scratching the back of my head nervously.

"Well that's good to here!" a loud voice boomed out next to me. I jumped about a foot and turned around to look up at a very large man standing far to close for comfort. He had the strangest mustache I'd ever seen, like two upturned horns sticking out of his lip. The craziest thing though was his size, he had to be nearly seven feet tall, and built like a sumo wrestler.

"I was a bit worried about you boy, looked like that bubblin gave you quite the smack." He said with a jolly grin on his face, "But you seem to be better now. By the way, m'names Bo, Mayor Bo 'round here." He stuck out his hand in a friendly manner.

I smiled and reached out to shake his hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you Mayor Bo, my names Skyler." I liked this guy a lot, he was large, happy, and reminded me of Santa.

"Well my names Uli and it's wonderful to meet you Skyler," the pregnant woman said, "I can't thank you enough for helping Talo out in the woods. Who knows what could have happened if you hadn't been there."

"Oh, no, I didn't really do much," I replied with a small smile, "Just kept them occupied for a while until Link came. In truth, if it weren't for him I'd probably have ended up in the same situation as Talo almost did."

"You're far too modest," Uli said with a grin, "Link told us how you valiantly fought off those bubblins unarmed and with no foreseeable help."

"Yes, you did great," the man off to the side of Uli spoke up, "You've made quite the impression on the kids of this village. What, with the way Talo's been retelling the story you would think you fell from the sky and moved the very earth." He ended with a happy smile.

Uli tapped the man on the chest and said, "This is my husband, Rusl." He stuck out his hand and I shook it. Next the girl who had been quiet for most of the time spoke up. It was the first time I'd really looked at her and, wow, she was gorgeous. Short blonde hair, carefully styled in a spiky fashion. A great figure and beautiful green eyes… It took me a couple seconds to comprehend what she was saying.

She had her hand held out and was looking at me funny, I blushed and quickly shook it before saying, "Sorry, what was that, I missed it."

"It's okay," she said with a smile, "I said my names Ilia."

"Well it's nice to meet you Ilia." I responded looking away in a poor attempt at covering up my blush. Dang, even in my dreams I was useless around pretty girls.

My memory of the games was starting to come back. With the way Link is dressed and the characters around I think this is from the game of Twilight Princess.

Now if only I could remember what the name of the village was? Ogre, no… Orange… Ordin, no, not that. "So what brings you to Ordon province boy?" That was it! Ordon. I looked back up at Mayor Bo before replying.

"Uuh…" Well I couldn't tell them the truth, dream or no dream who knows how they would react. I skimmed my mind for possible reasons. _'Struck by lightning, no…Fell parachuting out of a malfunctioning plane! Wait, no that won't work… they don't have planes…What do they have…Magic ahah!'_

"Honestly I don't know…" I began, speaking slowly so as to buy time to think up a reasonable story. A semi believable one came and so, out of time, I took it. "I was out exploring in the woods around my house when I found an abandoned building. I went inside to see what was there and this odd array on the floor lit up. A bright flash of light and the next thing I know I'm in the middle of a forest I've never seen before."

"Oh, you poor thing," Uli said sympathetically.

"Curious," said Rusl, "An odd array you say… I wonder what that could be. Sounds like old magic to me, and the only people around here that know about magic like that would be the royal family."

"Well you're in luck boy," Mayor Bo boomed out, "Link was just headed down to the castle."

"Yeah," Link spoke for the first time since we arrived, "I'm heading down there tomorrow to deliver a gift, why don't you come with me. The princess might know something that could help you get home."

"Sounds great," I said. If I was going to be in this coma for a while why not have an adventure?

"Great, it's all settled then," Ilia broke in, "Why don't you come over to our place, we've got extra room and could clear up Links house for tonight."

"Good idea," Link said, "I'll see if I can find an extra change of clothes that might fit you, yours seem to be worn out."

Ilia smiled at Link for a second before her face took on a serious look, "Now just wait a minute, you're just trying to skip out on work," she said, glaring at him. She cut off his feeble attempt to defend himself saying, "You better go on up to the ranch right now or _else._" She said the last word with a menacing hiss to it.

Link turned pale for a second before muttering a hasty, "Yes ma'am." And rushing off towards where I suppose the farm is.

I was about to laugh before she turned towards me and said, "And you…" she looked me up and down before muttering in a voice so quiet I could barely hear it, "Darn, he was right," she then turned towards Mayor Bo and said, "You still have those old clothes from last year right?" he nodded, "Ok then, I'll be right back then." And ran towards the big house across the river.

Uli started laughing and came up and put a hand on my bewildered shoulder, "Don't worry about that, it's the way she shows she cares." With that she grabbed Rusl's hand and started walking away.

Rusl called over his shoulder, "If there's anything you need don't hesitated to ask."

"Thanks, I will," I shouted back. I turned to face Mayor Bo and was surprised to find in his place four children. As soon as they saw they had my attention they all began talking at once.

After about ten seconds of incomprehensible blather the tallest, and only girl in the group, shouted out, "QUIET!" as soon as the others had quieted down she looked up at me sweetly and said, "Hello, I'm Beth and this is Colin," she said pointing to a gentle looking blonde child, "Malo," gesturing at the smallest one who looked more like a large baby than any child I had ever seen walking, "and Talo," she finished pointing towards another one of the boys, this one with brown hair.

Before she could continue any farther Talo burst forward saying, "Thank you soooo much for saving me! The way you fought off those bubblins was awesome!" each sentence seemed to grow with energy and loudness, "You just have to show me how you did those moves with the kicking and the punching and the wrhaaaa!" he said making excited gestures.

After the last sentence all the other kids started shouting and before I knew it I was being dragged off the give them _lessons._ I saw Ilia come out of the big house and smile at me as I was being pulled away. My last thoughts as I was pulled along were, '_What have I gotten myself into_

(LINE BREAK)

Several hours later found me getting ready for bed in one of the upstairs guest rooms of the Mayor's (and Ilia's :D) house. After showing the kids some of my martial arts moves I was surprised to find that my arm had stopped hurting, that red potion really does wonders. My initial reluctance faded as I got into it, one of my favorite things to do back hom—Er in reality was teach martial arts to kids. I showed them some basic moves and let them have fun with it.

It was cute to watch them goof around and punch the pumpkin dummies they had set up. Even Colin who, if I remember my experience with the game correctly, disliked violence got into it.

By the time Uli had come to get everyone the class had dissolved into a four on one wrestling match, me being the one.

Coming back into the main village Ilia had greeted me with several large, but workable, items of clothing. She then brought me inside and showed me the room I would be sleeping in.

Link came by for dinner and said that he would have to work early in the morning, so I could sleep in before we left. Another hour of talking and he left.

Coming back to the present I dressed in one of the bigger shirts Ilia had given me. It was warm and very smooth. The big orange shirt was very comfortable despite being made of what seemed to be animal hair, although I had no idea of what kind. Pulling off my jeans I climbed into the four poster bed, slid under the sheets and drifted off to sleep.

(LINE BREAK)

"Yaaahhhhn," I stretched leisurely under the cover of the bed. I rolled over onto my side and went to go back to sleep. That was when I noticed how bright it was.

"Holy crap I'm going to be late for school!" I jumped out of bed and slammed my knee into a dresser that should not have been there. "Ooww," hobbling around for a second I looked around the unfamiliar room before remembering the previous day. '_Weird, shouldn't my dream end when I go to sleep, and shouldn't I wake up in real life?"_ I didn't let it bother me though because I, like most teenagers, have a horrible procrastination problem. So like usual I ignored it and left it alone until I found time to go over it later, probably far into the future.

Getting out of bed I pulled on some of the pants Ilia gave me the other day. I left the same shirt on because it was comfortable, and honestly, who doesn't love orange? Opening up the door to my room my nose was assaulted by a cacophony of delicious smells. Nearly drooling I rushed down the stairs and towards the delightful odor. Turning into the kitchen I found a table set with eggs, muffins, and all sorts of breakfast delights. Ilia walked into the room as I was eyeing the food.

"Oh good, your awake Skyler," she said smiling. "Help yourself to breakfast, sorry if it's a little cold, but you've been asleep for a while and I didn't want to wake you up."

"No problem, wow this smells amazing," sitting down and grabbing a serving of everything I began eating. "Wow, this is great, did you make this yourself?"

Ilia smiled at me and said, "Thanks, and yes. My father isn't much of a cook, so I do most of it around the house. Making your own food tends to give you that extra reason to try and cook a well as you can."

She left the kitchen and I began eating in earnest. After about five minuets and most of the remaining food on the table I exited the kitchen quite satisfied and found Ilia sitting on a couch. She motioned for me to sit next to her and when I had made myself comfortable she asked, "So, what is it like where you came from?"

A bit taken aback by the question it took me a minute to respond. "Well it's a lot different from here. People aren't as friendly and there are a lot more of them." Ilia listened with rapt attention, "It's a lot bigger, with most buildings bigger than this house. Umm, aside from that it's not all too different from here. People work and eat and sleep… that's about it."

Ilia contemplated the information for a second before saying, "I've rarely been out of the village. The last time was when my father had to visit Kakariko village years ago. We were only there for a couple days and it was a long time ago." She sighed and looked at me, "Sometimes I wish I could just get up and leave you know, see the world," she started for a second before hastily adding, "Not that I would of course."

"I think you have it pretty good here," I said, "The rest of the world isn't as kind of a place. Here you have good friends and family." I sighed massaging my temple before adding softly, "I really need to get home and get better. My family needs me."

Ilia gave me a sorrowful smile, "Don't worry, I'm sure the princess will know how to get you home."

"Thanks," I said. We sat for a while in companionable silence. Eventually Ilia got up and started walking up stairs.

"Wait here, I'll go get you some supplies for the journey, Link should be back soon." She said.

She was right, a few minutes later I heard the clopping of hoofs outside the house and went to investigate. Link was outside talking to the mayor with his horse (Epona right?) grazing next to him. He saw me and called out.

"Hey Skyler, you ready to go."

"Yeah, I think so, Ilia said she had some things for me, but aside from that I'm good to leave."

"Great," Link said, "Come over and meet Epona," he gestured to his horse, "She's our ticket to Castle Town."

Suddenly we heard a gasp from behind us. We turned around just as Ilia rushed past us, a satchel lay forgotten on the ground.

"Link!" came the accusing voice, "What have you done to her!" Ilia stood by Epona, gently stroking her leg. "How could you," she cut through any of Links protests that Epona was perfectly fine, "I'm going to take her up to the spring, there is now way you can ride her in this condition." With a huff she walked off with Epona in tow.

I laughed silently to myself as I watched both Mayor Bo and Link try to convince Ilia to leave Epona. Let's just say it didn't work.

Link looked at me with a hopeful expression and asked, "You want to help me get Epona back?"

"No way man," I replied, "Angry Ilia, this is your problem." This time I did laugh as I saw a resigned expression of misery cross his face. As he slowly trudged up the path I decided I'd wait in the house.

Picking up the satchel on the way in I started looking through it. All I can say is whoa. The thing was only about the size of a book but it was like some distorted pocket in space. I pulled out articles of clothing that wouldn't have fit in an overseas check in luggage case. I whistled, "I really need to get me one of these."

Repacking the satchel I started thinking about the game. '_So Link just rescued Talo, that was at the beginning of the game, before he met Midna. What happened after that… something to do with the villagers… oh yeah, the kids were all kidnapped when he went to ...get …Epona… oh no.' _The thought stopped me cold.

I dashed out the front door and down the steps of the Mayors house. Across the stream and up the path to Links house. Stopping for a second I looked around and spotted a path into the forest, hidden by an outcropping of ferns. Dashing into it I ran across the path and towards where I think the spring should be.

Suddenly a giant boar comes hurdling out of the side of the road. Skidding to a halt I barley managed to avoid getting trampled. Looking up I saw a gigantic green bubblin sitting astride it with Ilia in his hand.

"Ilia!" I shouted. Rushing forward I tried to get passed the boars head so I could get to the bubblin but he was faster than I thought and jerked the reins to the side. The boar swung its head at me, its giant tusks throwing me into the wall.

"Gaahh," I hit my head and fell to the ground, losing consciousness.

(LINE BREAK)

I slowly rejoined the conscious world, shaking my head to clear my vision. Standing up quickly I saw that the bubblins were gone. '_Link.'_ Dashing forwards I ran around a corner and found the spring and Link lying unconscious on the side.

"Link!" I shouted, wading forward. Shaking his shoulders I shouted, "Link, get up."

After a few seconds I was greeted by him opening his eyes and a groggy, "What… Ilia!" He shook me off and got up. "What happened, where's Ilia and Colin?"

"I don't know. The bull knocked me into a wall and I didn't see which way they went."

"The forest," Link said the word forest like it was a curse. "Come on we've got to catch up!" With that he dashed forwards, leaving me to catch up. Running across a long bridge we suddenly came to a stop. A giant wall of orange and black blocked our path.

"What is th-," before Link could even complete his question two large black hands shot out of the was, grabbing both of us and dragging us in.

"Gwwahhh," I screamed out. I was face to face with what resembled a large black shield. Kicking out I hit it with my foot and it screeched and dropped me to the ground. I had partially stood up when the black mark on my hand lit up.

Suddenly ever cell in my body was burning. I fell to the ground and screamed out in pain. It felt like my bones were crushing together and my entire mass pulled towards a center point. The black mark flashed an even deeper black as the pain intensified, everything screamed out agony. My vision started to turn red and somewhere through the haze I saw Link thrashing around in a similar manner. Soon I was reduced to twitching because the pain was so paralyzing. My vision slowly tunneled in before fading to black. My last thoughts were thanks that I was escaping from the pain.

(LINE BREAK)

Off in the twilight lit gloom, two blood red eyes looked in interest upon the seen unfolding in front of them. Two humans had been pulled into the forest by one of **His **minions. There feeble resistance had devolved into simply thrashing on the ground. Quickly losing interest the shadowy persona was about to leave when something caught its eye. The shorter of the two was of no interest, but the second… Yes, the owner of these eyes would investigate the second one… The animal shape shifter…

A menacing chuckle quietly rolled across the air, dissipating before reaching anyone's ears.

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Well, thanks for reading! I hope you liked it and would love to hear what you thought, so review! Sorry this chapter was a little uneventful, it starts getting better around chapter three. Guppy signing out.


	3. Adventure 2: The Change

A/N: Hey everybody! Guppy here. Thank you so much for all the reviews! I hope you all enjoy this next chapter, it was one of the original concepts for this story that survived 'the purge' (AKA a massive crash that caused me to lose much data) I have the plot already thought out and in a rough layout form. I'm thinking this story will be around twenty chapters and 200,000 words long, so I hope you stick with me through it all. Anyway, onto my replies for the reviews!

**_Boleslava_: Thank you for the compliment, I tried to keep everyone in character and I'm glad to see others thought I did. I hope you keep reading and enjoying this fanfic!**

**_ArchShadow24_: Yay! You reviewed again! I apologize for the Talo, Malo mix-up in the last chapter. When I originally wrote the chapter I mixed up their names, so I had to go back and fix them all. (I reviewed it for that specific error three times) But it appears I missed some. I'll go back and fix that soon. And as for your next observation, I'm glad to see that the slight innuendo caught on. Ilia was always one of my favorite characters in _Twilight Princess _and I never felt she got as much attention as she should have, but I'll let you find out whether or not you think the pairing is likely to happen.**

Disclaimers: I do not own any Nintendo copyrights, including Zelda. I do, however, own my original characters and your eyes for the approximately twenty minutes it takes you to read this.

* * *

Adventure 2: The Change

Pain assaulted me as I drifted back to consciousness. I didn't know whether to be relieved or worried by the fact that painful awakenings had stopped seeming unusual to me. Cracking an eye open I expected to be blinded by light of some kind, but it was dark, so dark that it took me a second to realize my eyes really were open.

Sitting up was a laborious process. My mouth felt like it had been stuffed with cotton and body felt like it was made of lead. Looking around I found myself in a small, damp cell of some kind. The three main walls were constructed of stone and mortar with the fourth being a wall of iron bars, like a prison cell. Chains hung from the wall to my left, hooked up to the ceiling and floor in a way that you could pull someone spread eagle against it. It looked more like a medieval torture chamber than anything else. I was sitting in a pile of wet hay, the only thing to disrupt the uniform emptiness of the room.

Attempting to look around the cell I found to my annoyance something kept getting into my eyes. "What the frick!" I shouted grabbing at the object. Tugging on it hard I was rewarded with pain shooting from my scalp. "Oww, what is this?" looking over it closely I found it to be formed of numerous fibers and connected to my head. '…_Hair? How the crap did it get so long?!'_ quickly feeling along it I found it went down past my waist. The lighting was too poor to make out much detail, so I couldn't even judge the color.

'_What the heck,'_ I thought, biting my lip in confusion. "Gah," quickly releasing my lip after a sharp pricking sensation spiraled from two points. "Again, what the heck!" I shouted to the air. Feeling over my lip I found two sensitive areas where my teeth had jabbed it. Carefully tracing my teeth I found that my canines had lengthened and sharpened into two formidable fangs.

Shaking my head I disregarded the strange changes as a state of delirium, caused by large amounts of stress. Looking over my surroundings yet again I thought, '_How the crap did I end up here?'_ My head hurt too much to think very hard, '_The last thing I remember was in that weird dream…'_ Looking around the dark room it seemed all too real to me. The faint dripping of water adding to the freaky atmosphere. '_Wait, if this is a dream I should be able to wake myself up!'_ the though struck me.

Reaching down I pinched myself as hard as I could, "Gyaaah!" I screamed out. Looking down I saw two dark red holes where I had pinched my arm, confused I looked at my other hand. The nails on my hand were sharp and tapered to a point, dripping a liquid of some kind…'_Blood,'_ the realization chilled me, more so as I realized it was my own. A quick study of the other hand revealed long sharpened nails as well.

'_What the—when did this happen,'_ the stinging sensation brought me back to my pierced arm, '_That hurt way to much to be a dream… what the heck is going on?'_ In order to avoid panicking I stood up quickly, what I didn't count on was something getting in the way.

With a sharp yelp I fell to the floor and jarred my knee. Hissing out in pain I clutched at the fabric that was wrapped around my legs and found it to be connected to my shoulders as well, '_What, a dress?... Wait, no… it's a shirt.'_ Studying it closer I found the orange shirt I had put on in my dream yesterday, I could tell by the smoothness of the fabric and contrasting weave of animal hair. The fabric of the shirt now came down past my knees. '_B-but that was just a dream…there's no way I could end up in a different world!'_

Clutching my head, panic crept upon me as I thought of the implications of never seeing my family again. '_What if they need me? What if something bad happens and one of them gets injured?_' then an even worse thought crept into my head. '_What if I can't get back?_' I began to hyperventilate as the worry grew. Digging my sharp nails into my head I focused on the pain and pulled myself back into control. Standing up quickly I was more carful with the over large shirt as I walked slowly towards the bars. Slipping my hand down my side I located the hem of the shirt I carefully ripped off a strip of it, a task that proved much harder than expected, even with sharp nails. Wrapping the fabric around my arm I carefully tied it over the puncture wounds. Pulling the fabric tight I staunched the blood flow and took a few deep breaths before moving on.

Turning I studied the gate of my prison, seemingly impenetrable. The large cast iron bars towered over me, reaching up and disappearing into the gloom surrounding the ceiling. Outside the bars a single torch was lit, casting its paltry light down a hallway of the same stone as the cell.

I began testing the bars for weak points, places where rust had formed or age had worn them down. After five minutes I was forced to realize that there were none. '_No, I have to get out. I have to get home!' _Rage began to bubble up inside of me. Anger at being locked in a cell, anger at having no idea where I was, anger at the injustice of it all, and anger at my inability to do anything about it.

Suddenly my left hand started to burn. I could feel all of my rage and hurt flowing into it. I knew what to do. Raising my hand as if in slow motion I saw the dark triangle pulse an even deeper black, seeming to draw in the darkness around me. Pressing my palm against the bars I release all of my emotions through the hand.

"BREAK!" A concussive blast followed my scream of rage as the entire wall in front of me blew out, denting into the wall on the other side of the corridor. My long hair and shirt blew out behind me with the backlash of the force. I didn't wait to see if anyone had heard, I took off down the hallway, running as fast as I could.

The soles of my bare feet slapped against the hard stone of the hallway as I continued to gain speed. Sharply turning a corner at the edge of the corridor I found the ground drop off quickly in front of me. Another ledge was visible in the distance over a seemingly immense space. There wasn't enough time to slow down so I did the only thing I could, I jumped.

A sense of weightlessness overtook me for a second, almost like I was flying, but then I slammed into the edge of the other side, knocking the breath out of me and causing me to bite my lip. Wincing I barely managed to grip the ground before falling, my sharp nails proving useful and digging into the cracks in the stone. Panting I spit the out blood that had welled up from my lip then, gathering my strength, I heaved myself over the edge, ignoring the protest from my wounded arm. Rolling over I slowly sat up and turned towards the drop off, slowly I began crawling to the edge. Taking a deep breath I carefully looked out into the abyss, darkness filled the empty gap. Nearly forty feet of cracked stone and cut off corridors lead down to a water filled tunnel of swirling torrents.

Sliding away from the edge I stood up and turned to face the dark corridor. Taking another deep breath I continued down the hallway. Increasing my speed but maintaining a more reasonable pace this time, I quickly sped down the hallway. As I rounded another bend in the seemingly endless corridor a dark shape appeared out of the shadows and rammed into me, flinging me against the wall.

"Gaahh!" crying out as I hit the wall, I slid to the floor and quickly rolled to my feet. A black _thing_ about the size of a small dog was creeping towards me. It seemed like an octopus, but its form wasn't solid, it kept shifting in and out of different shapes.

"KWEEE!" the thing squealed out as it lunged at me. Ducking and holding my arms up protectively in front of my face I darted out of the way. The thing hit the ground and was instantly on me again. It bashed into my forearms with surprising force, causing me to skid back.

'_What the heck!'_ I thought, '_What happened to all my power!?.'_ My previous muscle mass had seemed to disappear along with my height. Seeing I couldn't muscle this creature away I looked for an alternative. '_Nails!'_ the thought struck me. Lunging out I swiped at the black mass. Hissing it leapt away before slowly circling me. We stared at each other for a second before,

"GAAAHH!"

"SKWEEE!" we flew towards each other, I flung my right hand in a large arc, bringing my sharp nails in with as much speed and power as I could. Just before its foremost tentacles were about to hit me, I made contact. With the sound of tearing flesh my hand seemed to melt through the shadow beast. It fell to the ground in two pieces, writhing on the floor before disintegrating into dark smog. The black triangle on my hand flared up again and the smoky essence of the thing swirled around, startling me, before being sucked into the mark.

"…Freaky," I muttered to myself. Note to self, be carful with black triangle.

Continuing on down the corridor the darkness seemed to increase in intensity. For about five minutes I could see nothing but black in the distance, the darkness broken only by the occasional torch. Just when I was about to stop and rest I noticed a pinprick of light stretching out on the horizon. Picking up speed I kept running towards it, and it got closer and closer until suddenly I was blinded by the light.

Stumbling to a halt it took a second for my eyes to clear up. I found myself in an open chamber with a large window on the side and a small spiral staircase descending on the left. Rich tapestries of royal red and gold hung on the wall, surrounded by burnished metal torch sconces. The room was truly beautiful, but none of these things held my attention.

Across the room in the doorway of another corridor stood a little girl. Her long, golden blonde hair fell in a curtain around her face, ending in ringlets around her knees. A long orange shirt was her only item of clothing, nearly drowning her frame it fell down to her ankles. Her pale skin was nearly snow white, smooth and flawless except for bruises on the forearms, it reflected the light from the window, forming a halo around her.

Her delicate features had a refined look to them, a slightly upturned nose and high cheek bones gave the appearance of grandeur. Finely sculpted lips turned down in a slight frown, a sliver of a single pointy tooth poked out from the right lip. She looked like an angel, except for her eyes, those haunting orbs that seemed to look into my very soul. Red, like freshly spilt blood they seemed to speak of confusion and fear. A single black line descended from her left eye, like a tear drop stopping just above her nose.

I slowly took a step forward and noticed that she did the same. I started walking, step after step closer, her hand slowly rose, stretching out to meet mine. When we were finally close enough to touch my hand stopped, pressed against a cool surface, it could go no farther. '_A mirror,'_ the lone thought popped into my head.

"No…" the horse whisper escaped my throat, as I noticed for the first time the soft lilt my once tenor voice had taken on. My hands slowly descended, stopping at my crotch, but no familiar bulge greeted me, just a smooth surface… it was gone. The girl in the mirror was me.

"No…no," I whispered out the words in denial as I slowly sank to my knees. '_Even my family wouldn't recognize me now.' _ "…no…NO!" I screamed out the last word. I felt something warm sliding down my face, lifting up my hand it came away wet. I started shaking uncontrollably, and for the first time in nearly ten years, I cried.

Huge, heaving sobs wracked my body for what seemed like hours, I lost all sense of time and awareness. I have no idea how long I lay kneeling in front of that mirror. It could have been hours or days that I stared at the weeping reflection of what I had become… a child… a little girl.

(LINE BREAK)

I awoke to near darkness, not even remembering when I had fallen asleep. I didn't look at the mirror, just stood up and slowly walked to the spiral staircase across the room. My previous haste was gone, I felt drained of energy, like a husk.

The winding staircase led down for several floors before ending at a door. The large brass gateway was rusted shut, the doorknob jammed at an awkward angle. After shoving fruitlessly against it for a while I noticed a place where the stone stopped and gave way to wood. Moving over to investigate I found it termite ridden and very old. The decaying material gave way easily underneath my fingers, clawing through it I slowly tunneled my way through the wall. Ignoring splinters and scrapes I kept pushing until I could see the dimly lit street through the cracks.

Giving a final push I crawled out of the jagged hole I had shoved through the rotting wood. Standing up I was cast in shadow by a looming presence. Turning around I saw the menacing wall of a huge castle filling up the near night sky. The finely crafted stone walls held a reminiscence of greater times, but the magnificent sight held no wonder for me, I felt empty. I turned around and marched down the poorly lit alley, walking around discarded trash and who knows what else. Coming out I found a street with a few people walking around in the gloom. I saw a kind looking lady and walked over to her.

"Excuse me ma'am. Can you tell me where I am?" the woman gave no reply, she didn't even seem to notice me. I tried again, "Excuse me—," I was cut off as she quickly turned around, looking over her shoulder.

"Being out at night gives me the creeps," she muttered, "Something's not right around here, not since those things came."

It was then I realized she couldn't see me. I noticed what I had over looked before, she and everyone else here, had a greenish glow to them. They seemed almost ethereal, like they weren't all the way there.

'_The Twilight,'_ I thought, taking notice of the dusk like color that coated everything. '_I'm still in the Zelda world,'_ The idea of this all being an injury inspired dream had left me. It was too real, no dream could affect you like this. Now I just wanted it to end, and for that to happen I needed to find a way home. There was only one person I could think of who could possibly know the way.

I wracked my brain for what happens next in the story line, '_Ilia and the villagers were just kidnapped… And we were sucked into the Twilight, so Link will have met Midna and become a wolf.'_ I was suddenly hit with a thought that stopped me cold, '_What if my presence has changed the story line? I already messed up the Talo retrieval, so who knows what else I could have screwed up.'_ I shook my head to clear it of such thought, '_No, you haven't done anything that big, it should still stay the same. Okay, so the next stop was… was… the forest temple!'_ Now I had a destination, something to do. I had no idea how to get home and the only person I could trust was Link… I hope.

'_If I remember right, Hyrule castle is in next to Castle Town, so that's where I am right now. The forest temple is in Ordona province, it didn't seem very far away in the game.'_ I thought through all the ways you could get there, trying to bring the map up in memory. Slowly a rough layout formed in my head, the details gone but the general shape still persevered. Then another thought struck me, '_But there are enemies along the way,'_ Looking down at my nails and clothing I thought, '_I'm going to need better gear than this.'_ And so began my hunt for helpful items.

Being invisible had certain advantages, I could borrow things without people noticing. And yes borrow, I'd find a way to pay them back… eventually. Running down the streets I noticed just how much bigger everything was compared to me. I had shrunk a good three feet. It was not pleasant to say the least.

Also, my feet hurt really badly. I had ignored it up to this point but the lack of shoes on an unpaved road really begins to take its toll after a while. Sitting on a curb on the side of the street I tore off more of the large orange shirt, wrapping the strips around my feet. While no shoes they definitely helped relieve the pain in my feet. Getting up I moved on.

Quickly searching through the town I found the first thing on my list, one of those magical satchels. One of the ghost people had a stall set up selling them, entitled, 'Bertha's Bags'. Looking around I found the one with the largest storage space. Looking it over it seemed like a normal bag to me, about the size of a hand purse and circular in shape with a flap covering the top. Undoing the clasp I looked inside and saw the rough interior of a leather pouch. Reaching in I felt around for anything that may have been left inside, like an instruction manual. To my surprise I couldn't feel the bottom, groping deeper and deeper I reached inside until my shoulder was pressed against the entrance. Looking down I found that my whole arm had disappeared into the bag, and the bag hadn't distorted at all!

Pulling my arm out and making sure it was all there I placed the satchel in the crook of my arm and decided I would definitely explore the possibilities of it later, but there were more pressing matters. Next thing on my travel list was food. Down the street from the bag stall I found a small store selling general goods. Checking inside I quickly sought out non perishable food items. Dried meat, canned foods, anything that wouldn't start to rot after a few days. I was careful as I selected the items, quietly stuffing them in my bag. I avoided anything in plain view of the owner, so as to avoid suspicion.

Moving along quickly I was about to leave when I saw something, a row of water skins hung up on a rack. '_Gah, idiot! How could you forget the water?_' I mentally berated myself. Picking up three I looked around for a place to fill them up, finding none in the shop I returned to the street. As I was passing by a stall I saw a bunch of those hair scrunchy thingies, you know the ones you use to put your hair in a ponytail. After a minute of internal debate, 'You'll look like a sissy… but it will keep the hair out of your face,' practicality won over and I grabbed a few.

Tying my hair back into a low ponytail I was annoyed to find that no matter what I did, some of my hair would escape its bonds and fall into my face. Giving it up as hopeless I continued on my way. Spying a fountain a little ways away I walked quickly towards it, a little too quickly. I bumped into a large lady who was carrying a bag of groceries in her arms, causing her to drop the bag on the ground. She looked around angrily for a second but couldn't seem to find the one who bumped her.

"Sorry," I said on reflex. Forgetting for a moment that I was useable I picked up one of her oranges and placed it back in the bag. Apparently teleporting produce was not an everyday occurrence here. The lady freaked out, tossing her hands in the air and ran off screaming at the top of her lungs. I felt sort of bad so I finished putting all her stuff into the bag and then placed it on the side of the street. Nobody noticed the groceries clean themselves up and neatly stack into a bag. It just goes to show how if you're not paying attention you can ignore the most obvious things. Shaking my head I went to the fountain and filled up the water skins.

Clothing was the next big thing on the to do list. As comfortable as it was, this shirt wouldn't last forever, plus wearing boxer shorts three sizes too big was getting on my nerves… they kept slipping off. Finding a clothing store was easy, for a seemingly medieval town they had a lot of clothes. Turning into a store titled, 'Bobs Slightly Used Wares,' I began to search.

I have no idea what size I am now and I feel no urge to find out. Looking around I grabbed some of the more durable shirts I found, all of the several sizes to big. Looking around I discovered several pairs of shorts and found, to my delight, that on me they were about the size of a pair of caprees, very baggy caprees. Although they were a little big (O.k. very big) around the waist I found that if I tied them with a belt they stayed reasonably well on my small hips.

Moving into the back corner of the shop I changed out of my orange shirt, wincing when it rubbed against the bandage on my upper arm. Pulling on a large white shirt of about the same size and a pair of shorts I pulled them on, tying a belt around my waist, over my shirt. It gave off a tunicy effect but there was nothing else I could do, the pants here didn't have belt slots. Stuffing several other items of clothing in my satchel I took off, eager to leave the store. The clerk had been getting suspicious of all the movement and noise when nobody was in the store, and was now stalking the isles with what suspiciously resembled a crossbow.

With all that in my satchel there was only one thing left, a weapon. There was no way I was going around without something to defend myself with. Those shadow things packed a mean punch… and they really freaked me out.

It took nearly an hour of searching to find a weapons shop. It was wedged into a corner by a doctor's office and out of plain sight, in other words a complete headache to find when you couldn't ask for directions. Sneaking in I was amazed at the rows upon rows of weaponry. I was something of a medieval nut, so this helped to brighten my mood._._

Halberds, pikes, curved swords, great swords, bows, you name it and it was there. My area of expertise in weaponry happened to be six sided blades like katana and wakazashi, they were trained in my dojo. Sadly though it appears that those swords weren't made in this world, or at least weren't found in this shop. Most other weaponry was out of the question to. My diminutive frame made it impossible to lift, let alone swing, most of the weapons.

To add to my frustration, I had to be quiet so as not to disturb the owner, the creepy old man sat behind a counter reading what looked like a grungy newspaper. Every once in a while he would drop the paper and look around suspiciously, glaring at everything with his beady eyes. Let's just say I didn't want to attract his attention.

After twenty minuets of fruitless searching I was about to give up, but then I saw it. It was perfect… well balanced, finely crafted, and small, most importantly small… now the only problem was getting to it.

The weapon was located halfway up a fifteen foot wall with tons of crates stacked along it. Looking around I spotted a single crate off to the side. Walking over to it I heaved myself up. Turning to another crate stack, this one with two crates, I lifted myself up again. Three crates latter I was at the weapon.

The object in question was a long knife. With a blade nearly a foot and a half in length, it was comparative to a sword for someone of my height. A large grip so I could use two hands if needed and a thin, sharp blade. Lifting it up I was impressed to find that it weighed very little. I was even more surprised to find it solid, the thing couldn't have weighed more than three pounds.

My search for the dagger had brought me high up on the stacks of crates that lined the wall. Misjudging the distance between two of them I over stepped and slammed into one of the racks. Steel crashed around me, making a cacophony of loud noises startling me nearly as much as the owner.

"What in tarnation," came an angry shout. I quickly grabbed the knife out of the mess of steel and ran. I knew he couldn't see me but I still didn't want to be caught alone with the creepy old man, he gave off this aura that was just frightening. Sliding across the floor I ran down the room and between the isles and out the back door. I didn't slow down until I was three streets away from the shop.

The annoying thing about a state of eternal twilight is that it's really hard to judge the time of day. I had no idea if it was day or night as I was running around the streets, but I did know that I was exhausted. My small legs were dragging as I pulled into an alley on the side of the street. Sitting down I lay back against the wall, setting my pack next to me.

"Yaawwn," I let out tiredly, stretching my arms. Today had been really stressful, and I still didn't know what to make of the change. I felt emotionally and physically drained, so I didn't dwell on it for to long. Instead I did what I do best, I procrastinated thinking about it and slid it to the back of my brain, waiting until some unknown time later to decipher it.

My eyes slowly got heavier and I drifted off to a troubled sleep in one of the dark alleyways of Castle Town.

(LINE BREAK)

I awoke the next morning to the persistent twilight that obscured this world. Getting up stiffly I stretched before picking up my satchel and dagger and tying them to the belt at my waist. Walking out into the crowded street I rubbed my eyes to help clear them up. Stumbling along I was looking for a gate to get out of the town when a delicious smell intruded upon my senses. My stomach grumbled and I realized how hungry I was. Following the smell I honed in on a small bakery selling freshly cooked muffins. Sneaking through the line of people I carefully took a muffin… okay three, from the rack.

Continuing on my way while munching on the pastries was much more enjoyable, but I found that my new teeth caused me yet more trouble. It would definitely take some getting used to for me to eat comfortably with my 'fangs'. The streets of castle town were congested this morning—afternoon-err you know what I mean. I took me a while to find the main street, it was hidden from view by most of the thatched buildings that lined it, I then followed it to the main gate.

Exiting the gate the flow of people decreased dramatically, almost no one was leaving the city. I crossed a long stone bridge that let out into a large clearing. On all sides I could see giant mountain walls in the distance. You could faintly see an opening in between two of them in the distance.

'_Okay,'_ I thought, '_How do I get from Castle Town to Ordon?'_ The blurry map from my memory began to form. '_Okay, I left from the south exit of Castle town. If my memory is correct there should be two areas between me and the entrance to the Ordon province,'_ With that settled I began my journey.

Walking was dull, very dull, there weren't even any monsters to fight. I was alone on the lonely path towards Ordon. The orange sky was drab, nothing ever seemed to changed, unless you looked really close. As it is, I had nothing better to do so I managed to notice several things, one, the shadows shift over time. It's as if the sun is still out and casting its effects, we just can't see or feel it. The second thing was that the distance in the game was grossly underestimated. I had been traveling for nearly two hours and was only just getting to the shadows cast by the mountains.

By now my feet wraps were starting to slip up so I sat down to retie them. They had started to fray so it took several minutes of fiddling before I got them tight again. The short rest gave me time to process my thirst, walking for a long time seems to be dehydrating. Taking my satchel I reached in for a water skin… but nothing was there.

After groping around for a second I freaked out, looking into the small bag I could see nothing. "What happened to everything!" turning the bag over I shook it wildly, trying to get something out, but nothing did. After that I stuffed my hand back into the bag. "Come on, where's all my stuff? I want my water!" I shouted out.

Suddenly I felt something hit my hand, gripping it I pulled out one of my water skins. Staring at it for a second I set it down and reached back into the bag, "I want my orange shirt." I stated in a clear voice. Fabric suddenly appeared under my fingers and I pulled out the tattered orange shirt. "Cool," I said staring at the bag. It sort of made me feel like I could do magic! Sticking my hand in yet again, "Give me a rabbit!" … nothing happened, "Drat, I guess it only works with what you put in it." I grumbled.

Deciding this was as good a time as any for lunch I took some of the dried meat and a slice of bread from my pack and ate them. The dried meat wasn't very good and the bread had already started to go stale but on the upside I found a use for my teeth, they made great bread crackers. All in all it wasn't a very good lunch but it was fuel and would keep me going. After a five minute rest and another quick drink I replaced the shirt, food, and water container back into the bag and retied it on the belt around my waist. Standing up I continued on the monotonous journey, after about twenty minutes I reached the pathway between the mountains.

The path was refreshing, unlike the plain in all its orange glory, the pathway was shadowy, and cool. The constant color of the sky was disrupted as the shifting colors changed to a cooler blue. Scraggly weeds attempted to grow on the sides of the path, fighting for a place among the others.

Continuing on my short strides carried me along the path at a sedated pace. The coolness was nice and after what seemed to me like too short of a time it came to an end. The walls gave way to open air and a huge plain spread out in front of me. Grasses and shrubs of all kinds adorned the rolling hills and everywhere the horizon stretched to where it faded into the distance.

Looking at the vast expanse I had to cross I grumbled to myself, "Remind me to sue the game makers when I get back home, because this is way longer than they had in the game." Continuing along the warm air closed in on me. Even without a sun it still managed to be absurdly hot out in the open. Occasionally I would pass by a tree, shriveled and burnt looking they all appeared to be dead.

Step after step I walked, crossing grassy hills and sandy ditches. I kept convincing myself that my destination would be viewable over the next hill but the horizon remained barren. The hot air and continuous walking was quite strenuous and by the time I had been walking for an hour I was covered in sweat. Long hair once again proved to be an annoyance as it clung to my head and face along with the sweat. I had to keep pushing it up behind my ear, despite the fact that I had it in a ponytail.

Eventually an inevitable force of nature took its toll… I had to pee. I first noticed it when suddenly my bladder felt like bursting, no warning, I just suddenly had to go so bad I could barely hold it. Looking around I realized, '_There are no bathrooms!'_ I spotted a large rock a little ways ahead. '_I guess that will have to do.'_

Walking up to the rock and looking around (yeah, I knew no one was there but can you blame me for making absolutely sure?) I pulled up my shirt and unzipped my pants. Reaching in my hand groped at nothing. '_…crap.'_ I stopped and thought for a second, '_how exactly do girls go pee?'_ My full bladder was making it hard to think, '_Don't they have to squat or something.'_ The awkward dilemma was solved when I decided that the need to pee overpowered my embarrassment at squatting.

Pulling off my pants I squatted down and waited… and waited… "What the heck!" I shouted angrily. I was sitting there, squatted down with a full bladder and yet could not pee. Closing my eyes I calmed myself and forced my body to relax. Eventually a faint trickling sound could be heard.

I'm sure my face would have appeared beet red to anyone walking by at the time. Of course if somebody did walk by they wouldn't live long enough to process the information fully. They would die… a slow and gruesome death.

Once nature had run its course I pulled up my pants and refastened the belt. It was quickly decided that this would never be spoken of, thought of, or even slightly alluded to.

The rest of the day was a long and boring tale of travel, sweat, and heavy complaining that I will spare you the misery of listening to. Let's just say that by the time I decided to stop for the night I was miserable.

The foot wraps turned out to not be the best form of protection. My feet had blistered and popped over and over until they started to bleed. My wraps were now tinged red from dried blood and there were several open wounds on my feet. I removed the wraps and tossed them, washing the wounds out with water I hissed in pain. Once they were relatively clean I pulled out the orange shirt again and ripped more fabric from it, wrapping it around my feet tightly.

The next matter to be attended to was the puncture wounds in my arm. My nails had done a fair amount of damage and while the gashes were shallow and small they still hurt a lot. The strain I went through throughout the day had reopened the scabs and I had to clean and rebandage them as well.

I ate a meager meal of bread, dried meat, and some dried vegetables, all washed down with water. There was nothing even remotely nice about it, but I was so hungry it tasted almost good. Setting my dagger by my side and my pack under my head I lay down to sleep. Staring up at the sky I thought, '_It really would be depressing to live in an eternal state of twilight. I feel sad for Midna's people… Maybe before I go home, I could find a way to help them.'_ With these thoughts I drifted off to sleep, dreams of blue skies and dark nights dancing across my eyes.

(LINE BREAK)

_I was running, running. Dark storm clouds loomed overhead in the sky as I raced past trees and leaves that groaned in the wind. Rain thudded down, accented by rumbling thunder and stark flashes of lightning. _

_ I could feel it gaining upon me, whatever it was. It had been chasing me for what felt like hours, my muscles groaned and protested as I pushed them far past their limit. I don't know why, but I knew if I stopped something terrible would happen. _

_ The forest seemed to laugh at my efforts, seeming to taunt and say, 'Keep running keep running, it's futile. You can never escape!' The dark forest gloom seemed to increase in intensity, encroaching on my vision and making obstacles harder to see. The pounding rain made it even harder to see as it streamed down my face, pooling under my eyebrows and hampering my vision. I kept running, narrowly avoiding trees and puddles until suddenly my feet were taken out from underneath me._

_ "Gaahhh!" I screamed as I hit the ground hard, knocking the breath out of me._

_I gasped for air as I lay on the ground, unable to amass the energy to move. Suddenly I heard a sound behind me. Rolling over I quickly stood up, raising my hands into a defensive position. _

_ To my horror, instead of the muscled arms I was used to, two frail fists were what came into my vision. "Crap, I'm still little!" I whispered in panic. My attention snapped back towards the direction the sound came from when I noticed a shifting in the shadows. Pushing my long wet hair back from my eyes I squinted through to rain to try and see what it was._

_ Out of the darkness two red orbs bored into me, freezing me in place. Suddenly the eyes were gone, blinking out of existence. I spun around quickly and seeing nothing began slowly turning in a circle. The rain continued to pour, the occasional flash of lightning lighting the forest in an eerie glow._

_ Suddenly something slammed into my back, a horrible pain arched from my shoulder and I was spun into the air. Landing hard it took several seconds before I could breath again, gasping in large lungfulls of air and a little bit of water. The shadow was onto of me before I could do anything more, gripping the back of my neck and lifting me into the air._

_ "L-let go of me." I shouted in panic, trying to wriggle from the arm. The hand around my neck loosened for a second, letting go. Then it griped it again from the front, slamming me into a tree with my feet still dangling off the ground. The blood red eyes stared at me from underneath the hood in shadow, half lidded as if this were pathetically easy._

_ "Get off!" I managed to shout through my constricted throat. Kicking out with my foot I aimed for his neck. A second hand blocked it, wrapping around my ankle and snapping it to the left with a sickening crunch. "Gaaahhhh!" I screamed as the pain lanced through my body, my vision turned red for a second._

_ I gripped at the cold hand around my neck, trying to pry off the iron fingers. The owner of them just laughed, a cruel sound speaking of untold amounts of malice. I could feel myself shaking as I began to realize how much of a difference in power there was between us. The broken ankle didn't help either._

_ "So pitiful," a deep, gravely voice began, "The bearer of such a great power, reduced to trembling like a little girl." He said the last part with sneer. I felt anger rise within me at his words._

_ "What the heck do you want?!" I spit into his face. I could see a flash of yellowed teeth as he smiled, before he said one chilling word._

_ "**You.**" _

I awoke with a start, sitting up quickly. Looking in every direction I clutched at my speeding heart. I was soaked with sweat and lying a few feet from where I had fallen asleep. I quickly reached down to my ankle and found it whole and unbroken.

"Whew, only a dream… only a dream." I sighed in relief, but it felt so real. It took me another several minutes to completely calm down and I decided that I was in no state to go back to sleep. Rummaging through my bag I pulled out a piece of bread a nibbled on it. Once I felt I had enough energy I got back on my sore feet and set off again.

Today was much like yesterday, except this time I noticed what I had overlooked yesterday, a large forest in the distance, stretching out for miles. I continued on my way and the closer I got to the forest the greener things became. The shrubs grew bigger, the grasses taller. The occasional trees lost their dead look and seemed to liven up, green leafs sprouting from them.

About an hour after I set off I arrived at the foot of the forest. Crossing along it I looked for a path leading into it. Eventually I found the road that I had left somewhere in my hazy walk the day before. It lead to a bridge that seemed a little off to me. Looking closer I noticed that the dirt around it had been scattered, and deep gouges were in it.

'_Weird, it's like someone tried to move it.'_ I thought. Dismissing it as unimportant I continued on my way. Eventually it came to my notice that something was off here. I couldn't tell what it was. '_Maybe it's the lighting, its dimmer in here—wait the sun,'_ sure enough I could see sunlight streaming through the branches of the trees, '_if there's sun then Link has all ready restored the light spirit. Crap, that means he could have left already!'_ the alarming thought filled my head.

Speeding up my pace I sprinted down the pathway, sliding around bends as fast as I could. Eventually I reached the large wooden bridge, spanning the gorge leading into Ordon. It felt like years had past from when I had first raced across it with Link but I knew it was only a matter of days. Running around yet another bend I felt my side start to cramp up, but I was too close to stop. Suddenly I saw it, only about ten feet away, then seven, then four, until I was on top of it. Clutching my side and gasping for air I looked around, I had found the spring; it was pristine and peaceful… except for a large greenish blue vortex spinning above it. The vortex was odd, surrounded by geometrical shapes that eventually spiraled into the center, leading up into the sky.

"The vortex, he's already been here." I whispered. I suddenly felt tired, really tired. I knew the vortex didn't mean that Link had already left, he could still be in the temple, but I was skeptical. The vortex seemed to taunt me saying, 'Your too late, you're too late.'

I heard a distant rumbling sound, rolling across the sky and causing me to shudder. The sound of thunder, I didn't want to get stuck in that. Repressing bad memories I turned around and saw grey clouds stretching out across the horizon. Replaying my options in my head I realized I could always go back to the village, it was just down the path, but there was nothing there for me, I needed Link. '_Where does Link head next? After the forest temple is…Ugh, think Skyler, think… the Goron temple!'_ the thought struck like an epiphany._ 'The Gorons are on a volcano and the volcano is near that village, Kar- Kathiko, something like that.'_ Memories starting to spill back into my head, '_If I remember right it's closer than Castle Town was, you just take a branching trail that goes to the left.'_ Ok, now I had a destination.

Setting out I crossed the bridge yet again. The thunder seemed to get closer. '_Dang, I don't want to get caught in the rain, but if I don't hurry Link might go on before I get there.'_ Worry over missing Link yet again won over my dissatisfaction at being forced into less than satisfactory conditions… Midna better know a way to get me back. I quickened my pace to a slow jog, I still wasn't completely recovered from my sprint.

Moving along at a reasonable pace (meaning a pathetically slow trudge to most) I looked up at the sky and noticed that the sun was starting to set. Darkness seemed to roll in and along with it came the rain. It started out as a faint drizzle, but as I continued along it grew into a full fledged maelstrom.

Lightning lit up the sky around me and thunder echoing through the darkness, each time causing my head to spike in pain, but I wouldn't let that stop me now. I was too close. Each step I took was a challenge, the wind pushed against me, forcing me back. I cursed my tiny body yet again as I slipped and fell into another puddle. Pushing myself back up I kept on going, not letting myself stop. The wet ground stuck to my feet as I trudged on. My long hair was a tangled mess, whipped by the wind it blew in every direction, plastering to my wet face in the most troublesome locations. After walking for what felt like hours I finally reached the strange bridge, the furrows that had resembled drag marks were now nothing more than a muddy embankment.

Pushing on I kept walking, across the bridge and slowly following the left hand side of the trail, poor visibility making it nearly impossible. The rain thudded down, puddleing in any available space, I had long since lost all feeling in my feet. My extremities were numb and I hugged myself for warmth. Clutching at the thin cotton was of little comfort, the clothes were so thoroughly soaked that they slid across my skin, seeming to increase in weight with every step. I felt so tired… so very tired, but I couldn't give up, not now.

Slowly, despite my resistance, my walking slowly stopped, forced to a standstill by the winds. Falling to my knees I hugged myself, my will slowly giving way to exhaustion. I felt light headed and my vision was bugging out on me. My head hurt, I had trouble concentrating as shapes started to blur together and darkness encroached on my vision. I slowly fell forward, landing with my head slightly to the side, rain falling around me. I feebly attempted to push myself up again but my body wouldn't respond. The headache that had been increasing in intensity burst into spectacular colors, and I slowly slid even lower on my stomach. The sound of thunder roared in the distance, the only sound I could hear until that to began to fade.

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Oooh, a cliffhanger, I'm mean aren't I? Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, tell me what you thought about it, I'm eager to hear your feedback. Remember, reviews are food for the plot bunnies, the more they eat the more ideas they excrete into my head! … Okay, that imagery was a little strange, but it gives you the basic idea. I hope to see you all next chapter.

Guppy Out.


	4. Adventure 3: The Hero

**Hey everybody! Next chapter up! This one is the longest chapter yet… over 10,000 words. To me it seemed a little slow but necessary, the action starts to pick up a lot more in the coming up chapters.**

**As per usual I'd like to thank those who reviewed. So thank you ArchShadow24! Reviews are always loved and cherished.**

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Adventure 3: The Hero

Hot, I was so hot, my body felt like it was on fire. Every cell screamed in agony as the seconds trickled by and I tried to hold still, but my self restraint was quickly failing. Eventually the horrible burning was too much, I couldn't stay still, I whimpered in pain as I tried to move, or at least attempted to. I was wrapped in something, something warm, too warm. Pushing against it, it seemed to weigh a ton, unable to shove hard enough I was trapped under its infernal weight and heat. I started thrashing even harder, shoving with all my might against my fiery confines when, suddenly, I felt something cool being pressed to my forehead, wonderfully, blissfully cool. Slowly my struggling stopped as my body drained of what little energy it had and the relaxing sensation spread. I wanted to open my eyes, see where I was and what was causing the soothing sensation but I couldn't. My eyelids were too heavy to lift and my tired body begged for sleep. My mind gave up the fight shortly, too exhausted to resist, and I surrendered to the blissful lack of feeling that unconsciousness promised.

(LINE BREAK)

This time it was cold, very cold. I could feel my teeth chattering as I curled in on myself, clutching around me. My grasping fingers came in contact with a rough fabric, pulling it tighter I tried to trap any heat I could. My entire body began vibrating as the cold grew in strength and I whimpered, a soft, pathetic sound. Where was the heat from last time, oh how I missed the heat. Suddenly I felt something lifting up my head, a very warm something. I squirmed as my body tried to get closer to the heat but it was trapped in the blankets. Groaning in frustration I struggled against them for a second before I suddenly felt something at the entrance to my mouth, pressing. Startled I opened my mouth and surge of fluid ran into it, sweeping across my tongue and down my throat, bringing with it relief. After a startled second the warmth seemed to spread through me and I drank greedily, noticing for the first time just how thirsty I was. Eventually the liquid ran dry and I sank back into the arm. The comforting presence slowly lowered my head down and began to lift away. I tried to protest, move, anything to get it to stay but my body wouldn't respond. The darkness slowly returned to my mind as I fell deep asleep yet again.

(LINE BREAK)

I awoke again, this time the crazy extreme temperatures seemed to have passed, but my mind was foggy and slow to react. My body felt like lead, it pressed down on my lungs and made it hard to breath. A dull throb pulsed with every beat of my heart, spreading out until it reached my fingers, only to be replaced by another. My mouth was dry and my throat was sore, like someone had taken a rag through them and stolen all the moisture. My head hurt to, one of those annoying, back of the skull aches.

Slowly coming out of my stupor my senses began to extend. In noticed that where ever I was it was dark, except for an area off to my left where heat and light radiated. To my right was cold and dark, and somewhere off in the distance I could hear the sound of rain. A steady beat that seemed to resonate around me.

Slowly I regained motor function, it started off at an annoyingly pace. At first I could only twitch my nose, then my fingers, and ever so slowly my body came back under my control.

When it got to the point where I could wearily move my arm I found that it was stuck to my side, '_Huh, what?'_ I thought, panicking a little, then memories from the last while came back. '_Uuuh, what could this be? A blanket?'_ feeling along the fabric I decide that it most likely was. The soft texture combined with how it encased me in a comforting warmth defied all other explanations.

"Uuuh," I groaned as I slowly opened my eyes. For a couple seconds everything was blurry and swimming around, nothing focusing. It took about thirty seconds but eventually my vision came back into focus. A rocky roof was the first thing I saw, scratched and weathered it seemed to hover above me. Looking down I could vaguely make out where my feet should be, a dull brown fabric was wrapped around them, leading up my body. I notice a light coming from my left, turning towards it I gasped at the brightness and closed my eyes. Shaking my head to clear the spots from my vision I squinted through nearly closed eyelids at the fire that had nearly blinded me.

A merry orange flame danced around in a circle of stone, casting shifting shadows across the walls. Next to it I noticed several piles of rags, a wooden bucket of water, and what looked to be my dagger and bag lying in a neat arrangement.

'_What… when did I get here?'_ The confused thought made the headache worsen. Closing my eyes for a second I waited for the pain to abate before opening them and staring at the unfamiliar ceiling again. Wracking my brain for answers I slowly reviewed the last day or so. '_I was walking a lot…to, to find something…but what was it- Link!'_ my memory started coming back, '_He was gone… and there was the storm. But how did I get here? The last thing I remember I was walking through the rain and everything started to get blurry.'_ My confused thoughts were interrupted by a scuffing sound to my right.

"Huh," letting out the noise of surprise I quickly turned my head to the right. '_Urk, bad idea.'_ My head lanced with pain and my vision started to blur. I noticed a dark shape in front of my face, way to close for comfort. Squinting I leaned back, it took a second for my eyes to clear up but when they did my breath hitched in my throat. A large wolf, dog, thing was sitting in front of me, mouth partially open exposing its glinting fangs. Dark shadows cast by the fire light illuminated large glowing eyes looking right into mine. Its muzzle was inches away from my face.

"GAAAHHHH!" with a high pitched shriek I attempted to jump away, forgetting about the blankets. All I really managed to do was shift my upper body slightly to the right, hit my head on the floor and nearly throw up.

"Ahahahah!" the laughter came out of the darkness from behind me, "Stupid dog, you scared her." The reprimendation came out in a high, belittling tone, sounding much too happy to really seem like its owner was displeased. I managed to hold down the bile and nausea building up and carefully turned my head towards the noise. Two black clad feet walked into the corner of my vision before the voice said again, "Don't worry, he won't hurt you." The foot pointed in the direction of the dog, wolf thing. Although probably meant to be soothing the words came out in such a degrading, 'I'm better than you,' tone that I immediately disliked the person saying it.

Looking at the dog I noticed that it had backed up next to the wall, head hung low and staring at me in an apologetic sort of way, big blue eyes in the irresistible puppy dog look. A smile lit up my face despite the conditions I found myself in, the dog was just so adorable. Upon closer inspection I found there to be strange marking above the beasts snout and its black fur was stuck up into a spiky array behind its head. I also noticed a shackle attached to its right paw.

'_Wow, those are the bluest eyes I have ever seen on a dog its almo—wait, blue?'_ Suddenly everything clicked into place, where I was and what was supposed to happen and I whispered out, "…Link?"

The dogs' ears shot up, eyes widening, before its ears jerked flat against its head. Lips rising as a menacing growl ripped from its throat. The black clad feet suddenly shot away, disappearing from my sight before the voice, now cold and menacing asked, "How do you know that?"

"Link," I tried again, looking at the now terrifying animal in front of me, "It's me, Skyler. Don't you remember? I-I helped saved Talo from those bubblin." I berated myself for the stutter but I couldn't help it. Link, at least I hope it was him, was very scary when angry.

Links ears twitched a little bit, a look of confusion coming into his eyes. The growl faded and the menacing scowl receded slightly as he lifted up his head and sat down on his haunches, staring at me in a stupefied manner.

"Skyler… now where does that sound familiar? Oh yes the mysterious _boy_ of whom you told me who was lost in the twilight." The voice spoke up again, getting closer with each word. Suddenly something appeared next to Link crossing its legs while _floatin_g in the air on its side. Head propped up on an elbow which it proceeded to rest on Link's back. She looked like a small girl, about my height, but also older at the same time. Curvaceous for such a small body her skin seemed to be a mixture of black and white patterns, with blue spiraling symbols going up the arms. The most distinguishing thing however was the two pronged crown of stone on her head, filled with intricate symbols and designs. '_Midna,'_ the thought came to me as I realized who I was looking at.

"So what's, up?" Midna asked, looking at Link, "I thought you said Skyler was a boy about your age, not a tiny girl." I bristled at the last comment but was too tired to really do anything about it.

A couple seconds of silence passed, in which the two seemed to have silent conversation, before they looked back at me. "Seems he's just as confused as I am," Midna said, her red eyes boring into mine, "So who are you and why are you trying to impersonate Skyler?" the last part came out in a hiss as her eyes tightened.

I swallowed before responding, fully aware that if they decided to harm me I didn't have enough strength to fight back, even if I wasn't trapped in blankets. "I-I'm not impersonating him… I am Skyler." I said, the last part coming out without a stutter, "I have no idea what happened, I was pulled into the Twilight with you and blacked out. I woke up in a castle dungeon looking like this." I said, looking pleadingly at Link.

Midna and Link looked at each other and seemed to converse silently again. "So… say we do believe you," she began slowly, "How did you recognize Link?"

"Ah, I… uhh," I paused for a second to think. How the heck did I miss that question? "Umm, it was the, uh, eyes? I could tell because of the eyes. He has the same look in them that Link had." I finished, looking at Link.

Midna look dubious but continued on in her questioning, "Okay, so how did you manage to get out of a dungeon in the _castle_ and all the way over here?"

"Uh…" I began lamely, trying to think of a way to explain my castle escape. For some reason it didn't seem smart to mention how the black triangle acted up, something told me they might get the wrong idea. "The door to the cell was… uh, unlocked and I uhh, I exited through it and found my way out of the castle." I said, building up confidence as I continued along, "I had no idea where I was and nobody seemed to be able to see me so I tried to go back to Ordon. While I was traveling there I got caught up in the storm and that's the last thing I remember."

Midna looked at me skeptically for a moment before asking, "So if you couldn't talk to anyone, how did you know where to go to find Ordon?"

"Uuuh," drat, how did I overlook that, "I found an, uhh, map in one of the, uuh, stalls along the streets in the city." I said, noticing how it sounded flat and fake, even to me, but hey, it's not like I could do much better. I was sore, confused, and had a really bad headache so, by default, the story was pretty good.

"Uh-huh," Midna said, looking at Link again. I swear their telepathy was starting to get annoying. Link carefully stood up before warily walking towards me. A distant part of me wanted to laugh when I noticed Midna's disappointment when her 'arm rest' left. The odd urge left when Link got closer, I flinched a little, causing him to stop. Hey, I couldn't help it, he's scary as a wolf.

"Okay, let's say your… story, is true. We still need proof… Link," Midna said, nodding in Links direction, "wants to know what happened right before you were taken into the Twilight with him."

"Oh, umm, the giant bubblin on the pig had just taken Ilia and ran past me. I couldn't stop it so I went to find Link. I found him passed out in a spring and woke him up and we ran after the bubblin and found the Twilight wall and got pulled in and, umm, yeah, that's about it." I ended lamely.

Link looked at me a second before nodding. This seemed to placate Midna and she left the wall and came over towards me. "So I bet your wondering how you got here." She asked while, at the indication of Link, lifting up my head and slowly setting me in a sitting position. By now the adrenaline fuelled terror was starting to abate and all my pains were once again vying for attention.

"Oh yeah, how did you find me? My memory of the last couple hours is a little fuzzy." I said, sitting up I coughed as I futilely tugged at the fabric that covered me, I mean seriously, what did they do, quadruple knot it? Midna snorted as she began to unwrap the blankets. "What," I asked, peeved at her insulting noise.

"Couple hours, more like three days." She replied in a haughty tone, grin tugging at her lip. She tugged one last time and the blankets fell off, revealing my upper body, covered in a green shirt.

"What! But it's still raining, that would have cleared up if I had been asleep for that long." I shot back, disbelief spreading across my face. Now that the blankets were gone I noticed the slight nip in the air and the dampness that seemed to permeate our cave.

"Yeah… it's been raining ever since we found you." Midna said, glaring at me in a way that seemed to say it was my fault, "What's even stranger then the length though, is that it's raining at all. It shouldn't be possible in the Twilight." Link seemed to nod in agreement. "Well, strange rain aside it was quite stupid of you to just stay out in it." She said haughtily.

"Hey, I couldn't help it, it's not like there was any shelter near by!" I defended in a loud voice.

"Yeah, well it didn't do you any good. We found you passed out near a road on the outskirts of Kakariko. We should have just left you but Link wouldn't, so I found this cave and we dragged you into it. You're lucky you looked so crappy, or I wouldn't have given up my seat." She said the last part as if she had bestowed a great honor upon me, "Your fever was pretty bad, so Link had to go raid supplies from the village. He even made me _feed_ you!" she sounded disgusted. Suddenly her face broke into an evil grin, "You owe _me _big time."

I paled a little as I realized that the comforting presence during my sickness had probably been Midna. I gagged a little at the thought of finding any comfort from that thing. But I also had to concede that, yes, I did 'owe her big time.' I had an uneasy feeling about what that would entail.

"Hey, do you hear that?" she suddenly said.

"Hear what?" I asked.

"Exactly." Midna stared at me for another second before turning around and disappearing down the tunnel that I presumed led outside.

"Finally, the accursed rain is starting to let up." Her voice echoed back to us. Link's ears perked up and he walked past me to look down the tunnel. Midna floated back into the room before saying, "Well it looks like it's time to continue looking for the Tea—" she suddenly cut off and glared at me suspiciously.

"What?" I said, glaring back. I was starting to get sick of her attitude.

"Nothing, I'm just not sure your trustworthy is all." She replied aloofly. Link yipped and Midna turned towards him, "Wha—well yes I guess it's not very likely but yo—Hey, I'm just trying to make sure that everything goes according to plan. Excuse me if I prefer caution." They glared at each other before Midna turned away, huffing out under her breath, "Fine. But she has to agree to my conditions."

'_What the heck was that about,'_ I thought, switching between looking at Link, who was giving me a wolfy grin, and Midna with my confused expression, then it dawned on me. '_Oh no she didn't.'_

"It's HE not SHE bozo, do I look like a gir—wait, don't answer that. Anyways I'm still a boy and you will call me as such!" I shouted out, chest heaving while glaring daggers at Midna. She stared at me with a stupefied expression for a few seconds before that evil grin spread across her face. '_Dang, I just gave her something to use against me didn't I…'_ Sadly the realization came too late as Midna slowly floated towards me, turning upside down so our heads were level but her feet were in the air.

With crossed arms she began in a smug tone, "Now that's no way to address your master now is it, little _girl."_ She stressed the last word.

"Wha—who, Master—" I stuttered out.

"Yes," she cut me off, her smile growing, "That's the deal. If you want to come with us, you have to agree to do everything I say."

"B-b-but—" I tried again.

"Shhhh, you see, it's not our problem whether you come or not, we don't need you." She said, her smug air seemed to radiate off of her being, "You're the one who needs us, after all, how else do you expect to be able to change back?"

My next retort caught in my throat, darn, she was right. They have no need of me, while I, on the other hand, need them if I want to have any hope of ever getting back to my male self, let alone home.

"…Fine, I'll do what you say." I said sullenly, watching Midna as she slowly spiraled away form me and into an upright position.

"Now, now that won't do." Her evil smirk grew again, I was starting to learn that this was a bad thing for anyone in close proximity to her, "I'll need to hear you say it, 'I will serve you Master Midna." She said the master part like a title. Biting back the bile rising in my throat I replied.

"…I will s-serve you m-master Midna." I chocked out through clenched teeth. This just seemed to delight her even more.

"Ok, now say 'I'm a little princess' while clapping your hands together." she said while miming the motions. I swear, if Midna was within grabbing distance I would have strangled her. But as it was I was in a less than choice state so I settled for glaring daggers at her. If looks could kill Midna would have died a slow and painful death.

Before either of us could say anything Link intervened, stepping in between us and looking at Midna. She looked back for a couple seconds before pouting out, "Fine, let's go."

"Wait, where are you going?" I called as they began to move towards the entrance of the cave.

"Just finishing what we came here to do." Midna replied.

"Wait, don't leave without me." I called as I kicked the rest of the sheets off my legs and began to stand up.

"Uuh, I wouldn't do that if I were you." Midna began but by the time she finished the sentence I was on my feet.

"OWWW!" I cried out as a burning pain lanced up from my foot. Jumping I grabbed the foot in my hand and landed on my other foot, "OWWWW!" the pain came from my other foot, dropping the first foot I switched to holding the second and landed on the first again, "OOOOWWWWWEEEYYY!" I cried, jumping in the air and grabbing both feet at the same time. With an oomph I landed on my butt, slowly stroking my tender feet.

A snicker came from in front of me. Looking up I saw Midna, laughing behind her hand, "I warned you." She said. I didn't help that I could see Link in the background, heaving in a way that looked suspiciously like wolf laughter.

"Hey, it's not funny," I said, holding back tears. For some reason this body seemed way more sensitive then my old one. Everything hurt more and I had a tougher time controlling my emotions, but I'd be darned if I let Midna see me cry. "What the heck happened to my feet?" I said, still massaging the offending extremities. They were heavily bandaged and looked more like a wad of toilet paper than feet.

"I don't know, you answer me that." Midna replied, finally getting her laughter under control, "When we found you it looked like someone had set a deku baba loose on your feet. Bright red and bleeding, I have no idea how you managed to do that."

"Hmmph," I grumbled unhappily, still rubbing my feet. It must have happened when I was walking through the rain, funny, I don't remember my feet hurting, they were just numb. When they started to leave again I panicked for a second, calling out, "Hey, you can't just leave me! Isn't there something like a 'Leave no servant behind' rule?!"

"Pssh, don't worry princess." Midna snorted, "We'll only be gone a little while, so be a good little girl and drink the red potion by the fire," She smirked at me. My face turned bright red and I'm sure you could see steam coming from my ears, "Hmm, yes, princess, I like that. That's it! I found your new name. Well, be seeing you soon… Princess." She ended with an evil smirk in my direction.

"It's Skyler you freak of nature not Princess!" I shouted out the outraged words but Link and Midna had already disappeared around the corner.

"Hmph," I snorted, "who needs them anyways." Turning around I saw that, indeed, by the fire there was a red potion. I hadn't seen it before because it was hidden behind the bucket. Reaching out I carefully kept my feet off the ground and stretched out to grab the bottle. Dragging it to me I lifted it on to my lap and frowned. '_When did the bottles get so friggin big?'_ The bottle was huge, I could have fit my entire forearm into it. Sighing once again at all I lost with the change I began struggling with the cork, the stupid thing didn't want to come loose.

After a minute of trying, and failing, to pull out the cork I gave in and used my teeth. Yet another useful thing about large canines, they grip really well. As my teeth sunk into the cork I began tugging the bottle away from my face and my face away from the bottle until I felt the cork start to give. Biting down harder I gave one final tug and wrenched it out with a satisfying, 'Pop!' Pulling the cork off my tooth, I stared at the bottle for a second and thought, '_I hope this works as well as last time'_ Lifting it up I took a long swig and nearly spit it out, "Uugh, this stuff seems even nastier than the first time." Repressing a grimace I continued to drink it and noticed the soothing sensation as it ran down my throat and numbed my injuries. Despite the fact that it was relief the thing tasted so horrid it took nearly three tries to get it all down.

Tossing the empty bottle away I reached over and dragged the bucket closer to me and scooped up water in my hands. Bringing it up to my face I tried to wash out the taste, but man was it strong. After dunking my hands in about five times I realized that I had gotten as much of the taste out of my mouth as I was going to. Sighing I laid back down, pulling the blankets over me. I was tired again, even after all that sleep. Weird how tired you can get by doing nothing right? Yawning I closed my eyes and quickly drifted off into oblivion.

(LINE BREAK)

My eyes snapped open. Sitting up I looked around quickly, cool darkness and damp rock greeted me on all sides. Noticing nothing unusual I rubbed my eyes to clear the bleariness, relishing in the fact that the place I had fallen asleep in had not changed.

"Huaaaaah," I yawned, stretching out my arms out behind my head and noticing the satisfying pop. Lowering said appendages I looked around the cave and noticed that the bucket and discarded red potion bottle were where I had left them, so Link and Midna hadn't yet returned. The fire had dimmed significantly, now just a bunch of chard wood and dying embers.

Quickly growing board of the room I finally noticed something I had overlooked, '_Hey, I feel a lot better!'_ Checking myself over I noticed that most of the injuries I had before I rested were gone. No more headache, my body felt so much better, all the aches were gone, and even the bruises I got from the shadow beast in the castle had cleared up. Further inspection revealed that even the puncture wounds on my arm had healed over. The last test was my feet. Pulling the remaining sheets off of me I grabbed one bandaged foot and began unraveling it… and unraveling it.

"What the heck!" I exclaimed after finding the fourth layer of bandages around my foot, "What could possibly need this many bandages!" Impatients was one of my many virtues, so basically anything that would require more than three seconds was considered very bothersome. Finally, as the sixth layer came undone, my foot was once again reunited with the air, causing me to grimace.

"… well crap," that statement about summed up what I saw, crap. How the heck did this happen to my foot, it looked absolutely horrid. Long angry red cuts covered the sole, partially healed over they resembled a bloody spider web extending from my heel to my toes. What looked like burn marks ran across the once smooth flesh of the top of my foot, the slightly clear looking scabs cracking as I flexed my toes.

Cringing more at the sight then the pain I slowly lowered my foot. Picking up the discarded bandages I retied a single layer around my foot, trying to take my mind off of the memories of the sight I concentrated on the back of my left hand. Looking at the triangle I noticed something that seemed familiar about it. "Huh… what could it b—the triforce! How the heck did I miss that!" slamming my palm into my forehead and slowly dragging it down my face I was struck with how stupid of me it was to not realize it. I'm in the freakin world of Zelda and I couldn't tell a triforce from a triangle!

_'I guess with all the stress it just didn't connect.'_ I thought to myself, '_Well I doubt that a black triforce would be well received by others… they'll probably think its evil or something, I should probably hide it.'_ Looking around for my bag, maybe I had a glove or something in it, I noticed it was gone.

"What the heck, Link must have taken it," I grumbled, "Speaking of the devil where is he?" taking the time to wrap my hand with one of the discarded layers of my foot bandages I thought about where Link could be. '_The fire looks like its been going for hours, that much wood would take a while to burn. What are they doing that could take so long?'_ I churned through my memories, trying to remember the story, cursing the fact that I hadn't played the game more recently. '_Ok, in order to restore the light, you had to find all of those insect, light bug, thingies and refill the glorified grape shaped container. That shouldn't take long, it goes by pretty fast in the game.'_

I huffed and folded my arms, and decided to wait a little longer, after all, the size of the plains and the time it took to cross them was grossly underestimated in the game, so why not this too? Whistling bland tunes I whiled away the time, picking out shadow shapes on the wall for amusement, until a thought came to me, '_What if the reason they're taking so long is because they aren't coming back?'_ The innocent thought betrayed the fears I had been repressing, but as soon as the thought took hold it wouldn't let go.

'_Think about it logically,' _my mind started working on its own as I tugged at my hair nervously, '_They don't __**need**__ you, your not really any help to them. Plus, with your feet in this condition they might just think you're a hindrance. After finding out who you are and that you could probably fend for yourself why would they stay? I could be working for the people who started the Twilight for all they know!'_ While I knew it was irrational I was naturally pessimistic. If something didn't go the way it should I instantly jumped to the worst case scenario, the way I was raised taught you to never take something for granted. It could always blow up in your face.

'_Well I'll be darned if they manage to leave without me, there is no way I'm going to lose my way back home after all I went through!'_ Anger and panic at the thought of being left behind I struggled into a crouching position, ignoring the painful protests my feet gave, '_They will still be at the Goron temple, it's too soon for them to have completed it all ready.'_ Shakily standing all the way up I hissed through clenched teeth as my feet throbbed, for once grateful for my sharp teeth as the pain from biting my lip distracted me from the pain in my feet.

Unsteadily stepping forward I walked towards the curving exit of the cave, each step bringing me closer to the light I saw coming around the bend. Stumbling I rammed my shoulder into the wall had to steady myself before continuing on, this time using my shoulder and the wall to help keep me steady. Step by step I rounded the corner, the path growing steadily brighter until suddenly I was blinded by the bright burst of light.

"Gah!" I cried out as my foot caught on something unseen on the ground, causing me to tumble forewords. Bracing myself for pain I was startled when instead of the hard ground I found myself slam into something warm, soft, and smelling vaguely of grass.

"And what do you think your doing walking on those feet?" came a gruff voice from above me. Looking up I saw blue eyes and blonde hair framed by a ridiculous looking green hat. Suddenly conscious of the fact that I was being held up off the ground in a very unmanly manner my face turned a deep shade of scarlet.

"Link you idiot, what do you think your doing! Put me down!" I shouted out as I vainly struggled to release myself from his iron grip. But that wasn't the worst, because he chuckled, chuckled! Feeling my face darken, a feat I thought impossible, I glared up at his smiling face as he set me down in a sitting position on a large rock to the side of the cave.

"Now, now Princess, that's no way to talk to a person who just helped you." Came a deceptively innocent voice from Links shadow. Honestly startled by the voice I merely replied by sticking my tongue at the shadow. Midna's only reply was her evil giggle.

As my rapid heart beat started to slow I looked at the still smiling Link before asking, "What took you guys so long? I was starting to wonder if you had ditched me."

"Oh, sorry, our mission took a little longer than we thought it would." He said, and honestly apologetic look on his face.

"Ok, well I see you back to being human again, that's good. So what's next on our list?" the way Link actually seemed sorry about it made me feel bad for yelling at him, but I had a rule for apologizing as little as possible so he'd just have to deal with it.

A confused expression spread across Links face before he asked, "Don't you want to know what we were doing?"

'_Crap, I didn't think about that, they think I know nothing. I don't want them to know about my knowledge of what's going to happen, because that could come in useful, so I'll just have to make something up… uh… yeah that's it.'_ Struck with a rare bout of inspiration I quickly said the first plausible thing that entered my head, "Oh, I thought that since your human now you just went out to change back, I didn't think there was anything else."

I let out a relieved sigh as he seemed to buy the story, Link just nodded and looked over his shoulder. Seeing nothing he turned back and said, "Well, it's not really important anyways, so I guess it doesn't matter either way."

Midna, who had been keeping quiet through our conversation, spoke up again, "Cut the idle chit chat, we need to get that next fused shadow."

Link glared at his shadow for a second before shaking his head and picking me up again, "Hey what the heck!" I shouted out indignantly as I was lifted bridal style into his arms.

"Hey, it's either this or crawling." Link said looking down at me. Grumbling I crossed my arms and glared at the rock I had been sitting on. As much fun a crawling sounded, I would take getting carried over it, I just wouldn't say it out loud. Looking smug Link turned around and started to walk down the trail.

"Wait, what about the stuff in the cave." I said, looking back over Links shoulder, "Won't we need it?"

"It's ok, I already packed up everything we need." Link said, "Including your stuff." He added on as I began to open my mouth again.

"Ok then…" I said, looking down the path we were headed on, I could see a large pond at the end of it. "So where are we headed to next?"

"Kakariko village, I need to check on everybody agai—oh that's right, you don't know yet." Links face lit up as he glanced down at me, "We found them, all the kids, they were here the whole time."

"That's great," I exclaimed, honestly happy about it, even though I knew that they were going to be ok, it was still nice to have it confirmed. I had grown attached to them in the short time I had known them. "So you found everybody?"

Links face suddenly fell, "Not everybody, I still don't know where Ilia is."

Reaching up and patting his shoulder, a movement made awkward by our positioning, I said, "Don't worry, I'm sure she's ok." I wracked my brain for what had happened to Ilia but I couldn't remember, it had been to long. The only thing I could dig up was a vague memory of annoyance about having to do something out of the way after finding her. Dismissing it as unimportant, after all as long as she was okay it was no big deal, I turned towards the shouting I heard in the distance.

"Link, Link come quick!" I notice Beth, quickly followed by Talo and Colin was shouting and waving franticly. Link burst into action, I started at the sudden influx in speed as he quickly crossed the distance to them.

"What's wrong?" he asked, stopping in front of a panting Beth.

"I-its Epona, (pant) she is (pant) out of control," she said, bending over and clutching at her knees. Colin, who was next up quickly nodded as pointed towards a cloud of dust approaching us.

"Look she's coming back." Talo shouted.

Link set me down on the ground and said, "Wait here." With that he charged towards the dust cloud that was quickly taking on the shape of a horse. Epona suddenly materialized out of the dust, moving so fast that her feet were a blur, Link planted himself in front of the horse the distance closing quickly, twenty feet, then ten, then five. At the last possible moment Link threw himself to the side, grabbing at the reins he used Epona's momentum to swing himself onto her back

With a frightened neigh Epona threw back her head and stood up on her hind legs, nearly bucking Link off, "Whoa," he said as he gripped the sides of the saddle with his knees to keep from falling off. Suddenly Epona was down and galloping with Link clutching to the reigns for dear life. Within a couple of seconds they had disappeared up the road leading to town, the clatter of hoofs slowly fading.

My stunned thoughts took a moment to straiten out, '_…holy shnikes…where the heck did he learn to do that?!'_ I was brought out of my stupor by a tentative tap on my shoulder followed by a wavering, "A-are you ok?"

Looking back I spotted Colin standing next to me, a concerned look on his face. "Uuh, what?" I asked dumbly, not getting where his question came from. Colin just nodded towards my feet, "Oh that, don't worry, just a few scratches," I ended with a smile trying to lighten up the mood. He gave a soft smile back.

By now the other kids had taken notice of me, and let me tell you, being stared at by three kids had never felt as strange as now, when I was forced to look _up_ at them. Let's just say this didn't help my ego at all. After five seconds in which all of them failed to blink, let alone respond, I raised my hand and waved it at them, calling out, "Hiya."

There responses all varied, Colin waved back, Beth glared at me for a second before snorting and looking away, and Talo…blushed? Weird.

"Hello," Colin began in a soft voice, sticking a hand out timidly, "My names Colin, what's yours?"

"Sk-," I began, almost saying my actually name, "—aaaam, um, Sam, yeah, that's it, my name is Sam." I finished reaching out and shaking his hand.

Colin smiled and looked like he was about to say something else when Beth spoke up in a loud and obnoxious voice, "What were you doing with Link?" her pointed glare bore into me and I was taken aback. She was so polite when I first met her as a guy, did I do something to upset her? "Well?" she spoke again, this time placing her hands on her hips.

"Is that really any of your business?" I asked, fake politeness burning with acidity. Normally I would have been more kind but under the circumstances I was in a bad mood, plus her uppity attitude bothered me. She was acting like one of those obnoxious neighbor ladies from a bad sit com. You know, the ones who are rude to everyone who isn't rich or male.

Beth face changed colors for a second and it looked like she was about to shout when Colin broke in, "Beth… it's okay, calm down. I'm sure Link ha—"

"Shut up!" Beth's shrill cry cut Colin off. As she glared at him he seemed to shrink in on himself. Now yelling at me is one thing, but bullying someone, especially someone as sweet as Colin was going to far. I was about to stand up on my destroyed feet and give her a piece of my mind when someone else broke in.

"Can it Beth, it doesn't matter anyways. Sam doesn't have to tell you if she doesn't want to." Talo blurted out, puffing out his chest to try and look big. There was a heated staring contest between them while Colin looked at Talo in amazement… so I'm guessing that this doesn't happen often.

"Pft, fine, like I care anyways," Beth muttered as she turned heel and walked right into Link who had come up behind her. "Oh, Link," suddenly her whole demeanor changed, a big smile broke out on her face and her words seemed to ooze emotions no ten year old should have. Gagging slightly I watched as Link smiled back at her and continued on his way to take Epona to the pond. Beth's eyes never left him, except for once to glare in my direction, as he dropped off Epona and returned.

"Well, now that that's all taken care of, what's going on here," Link asked, looking first at Colin then me.

Talo was the first to respond saying with a smile, "We were just getting to know Sam."

Link looked at me, raising his eyebrows a little before looking back at Talo and asking, "And what did _Sam _tell you?"

"Not much, just trying to figure out how she met you." Talo responded.

"Yeah," Beth said, squinting at Link and fixing him with a suspicious glare, "How did you meet her?"

Link just smiled before answering, not missing a beat, "I found her caught out in the storm on my way here, she got separated from her family and didn't know how to get home so I offered to take her." Well, color me impressed, that was pretty smooth for an on the spot story.

"Wow, that's amazing." Beth oozed out, causing me to gag again, but Link seemed oblivious to it. '_How the heck can he not notice that!'_ I thought to myself. Suddenly his feat didn't impress me so much… it might make me more like that _thing._

Link smiled at Beth and said, "Can you go get Renado for me, I need him to check up on something. Tell him we'll be at the inn."

"Sure," Beth said, casting another revolting look at Link before dashing off somewhere. By now Link was standing next to me, he began to reach down.

"Whoa, whoa, I can walk by myself thank you very much," I said as his arms neared me. I was fine without being carried around again, no need for another repeat of that humiliation. He just looked at me skeptically. To prove my point I stood up and began walking… well, more like a cripple skipping. Hey, they hurt ok.

Link watched me hobble for about five feet before catching up in three strides and picking me up again, "Hey, what the heck!" I shouted as he lifted me up to face him.

"Well, I thought that you would want to be walking again in a day, not another week. The longer you keep trying to force yourself, the longer it will take to heal." He said, I stared into his back in a brooding fashion, he had a good point, curse his logic! "Well?" he questioned.

"… Fine," I acknowledged, then he swung me over his shoulder. I probably would have given him a few choice words, but there were kids here. I swear, one day I'll get him back for this, not only did he pick me up again, but he flung me _over his shoulder_ in front of Talo and Colin. I see them snickering as they followed us.

As Link concentrated on the walking I looked around, lots of old and desecrated looking buildings loomed around us. It looked more like post apocalyptic war town then the thriving city it should have been. I guess the Twilight's pretty tough on everyone. Link suddenly turned, taking us up to a building labeled 'Inn' (I could only tell because there was a sign in English by the bottom of the stairs) and opening the door and stepping inside. Because of the position I was in I had to wait for Link to set me down before I could look around. He took me off his shoulder and put me on a raised stool by a bar near the door, and I finally got a good look around the room.

It was dusty and in pretty bad shape. Several broken tables and chairs had been pushed into a corner under the stairs, the counter of bar was chipped and looked to have been covered in grim recently until it was sloppily wiped off. You could tell by the many piles of dust around the corners and the several chunks of broken counter still resting on it. Looking across to the far side of the room I noticed a large man with dreadlocks walking up as he came to greet Link, a small girl with a bob hovering behind him. They were both slightly darker skinned, they looked sort of central American.

"Ah Link, you're back. I take it this is who you went to get?" the man said.

"Yes Renado, this is… Sam. I found her passed out on the road a couple days ago. She got caught in the storm and just recently got over her cold, so I'd like you to check up on her, make sure nothing is wrong. Oh, and her feet are in pretty bad shape to." Link said, talking to the man, Renado I guess by the context, as if I weren't there. I huffed and glared at the back of his head.

"Hmm, do you know where her family is?" Renado asked Link.

"No, I found her all alone." He replied.

Renado looked to be deep in thought for a second before asking, "Could she be Sheikah?"

'_Huh, where would he get that?' _I thought, confused for a second before I remembered one of the other unusual changes I had undergone, '_Oh, the eyes.'_ Red eyes were a natural characteristic of many Sheikah.

"I don't think so," Link replied, "Besides, no one has seen a Sheikah in years, I thought they were extinct."

Renado nodded before turning to look at eh girl with the bob. "Luda dear, could you go get the medical kit from upstairs? It's next to the bed on the end of the corridor." Renado said, looking at the girl with the bob.

"Of course father, I'll be right back," Luda said, then rushing up the stairs. After watching her disappear up the stairs Renado turned to me with a friendly smile on his face, "So, Sam is it? I'll just have to run a few quick check ups, don't worry, it won't hurt." I debated for a second over whether I should protest or not but I figured it wouldn't hurt to make sure I had no other injuries… plus my feet really hurt.

Shrugging I said, "Whatever you say doc."

"Okay then, I'll just need you to take your shirt off," he said.

"… What!" I exclaimed after a short delay, clutching at said shirt.

Renado looked confused for a second, "It's just your shirt, nothing to worry about," Sure, he might say that, but would it be irrational to say I was sort of scared to do it. I hadn't really seen much of my new body, and it seemed weird and slightly perverted to look at it. Then I noticed Link smiling supportingly over in to the side of me… freakin pedo.

"Fine, but you can't look," I said pointing at Link, "Go over there and stand in a corner or something." I turned away from Links surprised face to the sound of creaking and saw Talo and Colin walking in, "You two too, go over there and stand in the corner."

"Hey what did we do?" Talo exclaimed, looking offended.

"I have to take my shirt off, so you can't look." I said, glaring at him.

Talo and Colin both blushed furiously, Colin just nodded and turned over to go to the corner where Link was standing while Talo opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before following suit. I waited to make sure they weren't looking before I undid my belt and removed the overlarge shirt. I felt sort of exposed when it came off and my chest was hit by the cool air. Renado then came up to me and began to gently prod around the rib cage, asking occasionally if 'This hurt' of 'that hurt.' I answered no while studiously looking at the opposite wall.

About a minute of prodding later Luda came down the stairs with a large wooden box in her arms, arguing with Beth who was following behind her, "I told you I—" Luda was rudely interrupted by Beth.

"And I told you that it's stupid, we should just let her go—" Both ends of the conversation cut short when they noticed me looking.

Luda came up and set the box down beside her father and said. "I've got the box."

"Good, thank you," Renado turned and smiled at Luda before reaching down and opening the box. He tsked as he began searching through its contents.

Suddenly Luda and Beth were both in front of me, looking me over. I blushed as they stared intently at my chest, then Beth started to shake her head, "What," I asked after seeing the smug look on her face.

"Oh nothing… your just a little… _small_," her evil grin growing, Luda gasped while I stared at her dumbly.

When I finally realized what she said I bristled in anger, "Shut up, your not that much taller than me so don't go all high and mighty on me." She stared at me for a second, utterly dumbfounded before Luda spoke up.

"Umm, Sam, I don't think that's what she was talking about." Luda said slowly, as if pointing out something obvious.

"Huh, then what was she talking about," I asked, suddenly confused. Luda's only answer was to point at my chest. Caught by surprise I looked down for a second and found myself looking at the pale, flat chest that looked very wrong on my body. Snapping my head up quickly it took me another second to realize the innuendo that had flown over my head. '_Oh, she was talking about breasts.'_

"Uuh, so what's that got to do with anything?" I asked, looking back at them. Luda look shocked and Beth slapped her forehead with her hand. Before they could say anything more Renado popped back up from his medical box holding a small bottle of some strange clear fluid.

"All in all you seem fine, no signs of congestion, fever, or any internal injuries so you should be ok, you can put your shirt back on now." Renado said.

"Ok, thanks." I picked up my shirt and pulled it back on, squirming around a bit to get it to go all the way down. I left the belt off thought because it felt good without it.

"Can we come out of the corner now?" Links voice echoed from said corner.

"Sure," I replied, waving my hand in a go ahead gesture which, when I think about it, he probably couldn't see.

"Now Link said something about you scraping up your feet," Renado said, bringing my attention back to him.

"Yeah, they're banged up pretty bad." I said lifting up one bandaged foot. Renado set the bottle on the counter and took my foot. He began unwrapping it while delicately holding my ankle. A couple of seconds later all the wrapping came of and he gasped. Luda peeked over his shoulder and instantly turned green, retreating quickly.

"How did you manage to do this?" Renado asked.

"No idea," I replied, "I think it happened sometime during the storm, I wasn't wearing any shoes so…" I let the comment drift off.

"So, is there anything you can do," Links voice came from my side startling me, seriously, how is a man in boots like his so quiet?

"Well, the best thing would be rest, but if you want it to heal faster I do have some ointment that might work." Renado said, he went back down to his box and rummaged around for another few seconds before coming up with a sickly green tinted vial.

"Umm, your sure that's not poison… right?" I said, slightly put off by the color. It reminded me slightly of a dangerous fungus I had seen once on discovery channel. Renado just laughed.

"Don't worry, it's Keese guano, it has great healing capabilities." He replied.

"Guano… you want to rub my feet… with bat poo?" I asked skeptically. He just smiled and nodded. I swear everyone here is too happy, you go back to where I live and you're lucky to have no one look at you. Most of the time you bump into someone and its like, "Hey punk, watch yourself." Usually followed by an angry glare. And now mister sunshine is trying to cover my _open_ wounds with bat guano. They're all crazy. "Yeah, I think I'll pass."

"Do you want your feet to heal quickly or not?" Renado asked. I paused for a second, looked at Link, then looked back.

"Fine, put your bat excretions on my feet." I grumbled, no amount of poo of any kind was going to keep me from going with Link.

"Great, now this may sting a little." He said, opening up the jar and taking out a small handful he began to carefully rub it on my foot. I tensed up from the pain for a second before relaxing. The bat poo actually worked, I could feel it soothing my injuries, the throbbing stopping and the pain slowly leaving. Of course it still felt disgusting, it squished between my toes and had this slightly gritty quality that made me want to vigorously scrub my feet, but I put up with it.

After Renado had finished up rubbing it on he rebadged my foot and moved onto the next one. While he was working on it Link asked me, "So I take it your feeling better."

"Where do you get that," I asked.

"Your face," he said, smirking, "Your expressions keep changing to show what your feeling, it's pretty funny actually, especially that last one. The way you scrunched your nose while squinting and generally looking disgusted was quite entertaining."

I blushed and stuttered out a retort. Dang it, and I thought I was finally starting to get the hang of a poker face… curse him for pointing out my flaws!

Renado stood up and screwed the lid back on the jar. He whipped his hands on a towel that was laying on the counter before picking up the clear vial he had taken out first. "Well, the guano should help with the healing, but this will do even more." He said, holding the vial out to me. "It will make you drowsy but it's a great healing agent, so take it before you go to bed."

I took the vial from him and said, "Thanks Renado, you've really been a great help. I'm sorry I have nothing to repay you with."

Renado just smiled, "Think nothing of it, I'm just glad I could help."

Link came over put a hand on my shoulder, "Yes, thank you Renado, I don't know what we would have done without you." He said, giving Renado his signature smile, then he turned to me, "Anyway, Sam, I need to talk with you, do you mind coming to the graveyard with me?"

"Graveyard? Isn't there someplace with less dead people we could talk?" I asked. Link just glanced at his shadow, "Oh, okay…" I paused for a second before grudgingly asking, "Do you think you could help me?"

"Sure," with that Link picked me up again, this time with one arm. "Show off," I muttered as he began walking to the door. As he was exiting the building I suddenly noticed that Renado was the only one left in the room. "Wait, where did everybody go?" I asked.

"Luda saw your feet and scared everyone else away by telling them a slightly exaggerated story." He said, beginning to walk down the road towards the pond.

"Oh," I said. We continued down the dusty road in companionable silence. The light was just starting to fade, casting an array of colors across the horizon. Beautiful reds and vibrant yellows painted the sky. It was really quite pretty here.

When we reached the graveyard the final rays of sunlight started to fade behind the mountains, casting the area in darkness.

"So, what did you need to talk about?" I asked Link. Midna popped out of his shadow and answered for him.  
"Our plans for the future." She said, her shadowed form crossing its arms. "We need to know what were going to do next." Link set me down on top of a headstone before taking a step back to look at Midna.

"Shouldn't we look where the light spirit said to look?" Link asked.

"Well, yes, but I meant about him." She said indicating me, "How do we expect to get him home and back to normal?"

"Wait, you don't know a way!" I shouted, panicking slightly.

Midna glared at me before saying, "Yes, that's what we're trying to figure out."

"What about Zelda?" Link inserts.

"Hmm, maybe, she might know something but it's too far away. I need the fused shadow now." Midna said, rubbing her chin as if deep in thought. "Once we get them I know of a way we might get him back."

"You know a way to get me back home," I asked hopefully.

"I said might, it's only a theory but it might work. But first we need to get the fused shadow." She replied.

"Come on Midna, aren't you being unreasonab—" Link began.

"No, time is of the essence! If you want to stop the Twilight first you must collect all the fused shadow. Then maybe with their power I can reversed the curse on Skyler and find a way to get him back home." Midna looked at me, "But in order for me to consider it worth my time first you must help me. Help us get the fused shadow and I'll help you get home."

I looked Midna in the eye for a second before sticking out my hand, "You've got a deal."

She reached out and grabbed it with her cold and ethereal hand before smiling evilly, "Very good, _Princess."_

I glared back into her eye before smiling. "Of course Cyclops."

"…What do you mean by that?" She spat out.

"Exactly what I said One-Eye," I said, giving her my best and most obnoxious smile.

Before the situation could escalate any further Link broke in and said, "Ok, that's enough, I think we should go to bed now, we've got a long day tomorrow."

Midna glared at me for a couple seconds more before whispering, "This isn't over." And disappearing into Links shadow.

"I look forward to it," I called after her. Link sighed and picked me up of the headstone.

"You really shouldn't have made her angry, you have no idea how bad she can get." He said as he started walking back towards the inn. I just huffed and looked away.

As we walked the gloom seemed to press in. I've never been scared of the dark but something just seemed malicious about this darkness, it was frightening. I unconsciously gripped Links tunic as it seemed to grow darker.

Suddenly light burst out in front of me, I looked to see Links other hand holding onto a lit lantern, looking up I saw Link smiling down at me. I smiled back before turning to look back to the road. All though it was slightly embarrassing I was grateful Link was able to sense how I was uncomfortable.

Link took me back into the inn where we met Luda sitting by a large fire, reading a battered book.

"Oh, your back. Father told me to tell you your beds are upstairs, and so are some night clothes." She said.

"Thanks," Link said while I just yawned. I was too tired for pleasantries, it had been a long day. Link carried me upstairs before setting me down on a cot. I noticed a small night gown lying next to me and picked it up. I turned to find Link but saw that he was already on the other side of the room, pushing aside the curtain that divided the two half's. I saw that Beth was sleeping on a cot next to mine and another was empty, probably Luda's. '_Great, I'm on the girl's side.'_ I grumbled, but I was too tired to really put up any good complaint.

I removed my shirt and finally noticed something about it, _'Hey, it's green! When the heck did I put this on?'_ On closer inspection I found it to be oddly familiar to Links hero outfit, '_…wait. In order for him to put this on he had to take off my previous shirt… What the heck! I swear, that man is a freaking pedo!'_ Grumbling to myself about pedo's and men with creepy green shirts I pulled my pants off. Reaching down I grabbed the nightgown laying on the side of the bed and pulled it down over myself. It was then that I noticed something else was wrong, my underwear had been changed.

Instead of the ragged boxers I had been wearing I found a pale white cloth, shaped in a suspiciously diaper like fashion. '_What the—how the- Midna! She must have changed them while I was unconscious. Where the heck did she even get this!'_ To tired for doing anything about it I settled for quietly grumbling to myself and I pulled the nightgown down the rest of the way. Pulling back the covers I slid my feet in carefully I pulled the blankets up to my neck.

Grumbling about vengeance and torture of the cruelest degree, I drifted off to sleep. Dreams of screaming black and white imps carrying me smiling into a deeper slumber.

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**Ah, seventeen pages of writing… well I hope you enjoyed it. The next chapter should be up by next week so I will see you all then! ^.^ **

**Review and get a free heart container! …Hurry! You're low on health! Review! **

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	5. Adventure 4: The Dream

**Hey everybody! Sorry about the delay, but from now on I'm probably going to be updating every other week. I just don't have the time required to do weekly now that school has really started to pick up.**

**Sad face... no reviews. Reviews fuel my writting drive, without them I cannot work to my full potential, so please review.**

**Skyler: "Stop moping around you pansy!"**

**Me: "Shut up, you have no idea what I'm going through" *sobs quietly in corner***

**Skyler: "They're just reviews! Do they even matter that much!?"**

**Me: "YES!" *throws pen at Skyler for impudence***

**Skyler: "GAHHH! MY EYE!"**

**Well enjoy the story!**

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Adventure 4: The Dream

_'Squish, squish,' my feet plodded through the muddy ground as I trudged my way through the mist forest. I could feel rain falling on me, squeezing through the holes in the branches to splash onto my face. Looking around I noticed something vaguely familiar about my surroundings, something on the tip of my tongue and yet still too far away to remember._

_ "Where the heck am I?" I whispered my question into the empty forest. I didn't remember coming here, I didn't even remember waking up._

_ "**So nice of you to join me again**," an ominous voice echoed out from behind me._

_ Turning around I found myself face to face with tall, grey hooded figure. The sight of him launched my memory, synapsed firing as I remembered where I had seen this forest before… and where I had seen him. Memories of that horrid dream burst into my psyche as I flung myself bodily backwards, away from the threat he posed._

_ Stumbling slightly I pushed myself into a defensive crouch, hands poised in front of my body where I could more easily defend my vital spots from any attack. "G-get away!" I shouted, cringing at how frightened my little voice sounded. "I-I'll hurt you if you get any closer!"_

_ He chuckled menacingly, "**I thought you would have realized by now**…" he suddenly vanished, empty space supplying the area ahead of me. _

_ "Gah!" I choked out a something slammed into my back. Pain lanced through my shoulder as I crashed across the forest floor._

_ "**Resistance is futile**." The cruel voice stated as I rolled to a stop. Placing my hands under my body I pushed off the soggy ground and stood back on my feet. I wiped the mud off of my hands and onto my pants; upon looking up I found that he had vanished again. Spinning around I saw something flying towards my face, ducking I threw my right hand up and put as much force into the block as I could._

_ With a crunch my limb connected with the mans forearm, jarring the whole right side of my body. I clenched my teeth against the pain as the force from his blow knocked me back several feet. Stumbling I regained my balance and re-entered my defensive stance, both hands held in front of my face._

_ "**Bravo, not many from your world have good enough reflexes to block something like that. I should commend you.**" The hooded man said mockingly, his voice causing heavy emotions to well within my chest._

_ "Who the heck are you!" I shouted at him, anger rising at the way he seemed to be toying with me. The man merely tilted his shadow clad head to the side before responding._

_ "**Who I am is not important… it is what I can do for you that matters."** He said, raising his arm at the elbow and pointing at me._

_ "What could I possibly want from you," I snarled at him._

_ "**Now, now… is that any way to treat a new acquaintance? It seems you must be taught better manners."** His voice drifted off as his form seemed to lose shape, disappeared into the prevailing mist. Something appeared in my peripheral vision, I attempted to turn but it was too fast._

_ Something slammed into my side just under my rib cage, rocketing me into the air and taking my breath away. Before I had time to comprehend what had happened something dark flashed in front of me, crashing into my head._

_ I bit my tongue as my neck snapped back, altering my course mid-air. I could feel blood pooling in my mouth as I flipped upside down, feet reaching into the air. In what seemed like slow motion I saw the hooded man appear ahead of me, lifting his foot into the air. His leg came towards me as my body continued to rotate in his direction, no longer under my control._

_ Everything burst back into real time as his foot came in contact with my abdomen. Blood spewed out of my mouth in a misty red cloud as his foot pushed into my gut, seeming to move my organs as it transferred its momentum into me. I flew backwards through the air and bashed into a tree, sliding to the ground head first I felt my skull contact the floor. Everything burst into spectacular colors as I slid farther down. I came to a stop with one leg still held up by the tree trunk, sprawled on my back._

_ I started spasming as my body tried to intake air, I panicked a little as I found I was unable to do so. On the verge of passing out I felt my chest heave out, gasping in air and blood in huge lungful's, chocking a little as I did so. Turning my head to the side I coughed out the blood from my pierced tongue as I continued to breathe spastically._

_ A foot appeared in the top of my vision, I attempted to get out of the way but I could barely move. Everything hurt as my muscles resisted the barest movement, even breathing felt like I was being pierced by a hot fire poker. I felt a shadow fall over me as the hooded man knelt next to me, dark face hovering in front of mine. I could vaguely make out his chin and mouth from my position as he started speaking._

_ "**Maybe now you will start to listen**." He began in a tone that sounded almost bored, "**Our time is almost up so I will make it quick, if you ever plan on returning home, you need me. Do as I say and I can get you there, disobey me and well… I will make the rest of your pitiful existence hell.**" He smiled after his last sentence, the malicious facial twitch spiking fear in me._

_ "**I expect an answer when we meet again…**" his words faded as everything started shifting, swirling into the center of my vision. I felt myself loosing consciousness again as everything faded to black._

(LINE BREAK)

I bolted up in bed, ripping the sweat soaked sheets off of my body. Clenching my teeth together I stifled the panicked scream that coursed through me; clutching at my chest I felt as my heart pulsed at incredible speeds, seeming to try and rip itself out of my chest. Hunching over I gasped in air in as I attempted to slow my panic. Holding my stomach with my other arm I felt along it, expecting to find shattered ribs but to my surprise there were no injuries, even my pierced tongue was whole.

'_What the heck was that._' I thought, '_T-that dream… It was just like the one I had on the plains,' _Memories of the horrible experience came back, same man, the same realistic pain, but just a dream…or was it. I was having doubts after the last time, the pain and fear I felt were so real.

As my breathing started to slow down I looked around, I found myself sitting in a bed situated to the side of a large room. Seeing the pastel curtain that divided the room I remembered where I was. Looking into the bed next to mine I saw Luda curled up in her bed still fast asleep, a thin stream of drool coming out of her open mouth. I felt the panic lessen at the sight of her, peaceful and undisturbed she brought in a sense of normalcy.

As my heart finally returned to a normal speed I realized that going back to sleep would be impossible, I just couldn't do it… not after that dream. I saw grey pre-dawn light drifting through the window, casting everything into a muted glow. My stomach grumbled, reminding me of how long it had been since my last real meal.

'_…holy crap. It's been nearly four days!'_ the realization surprised me… until my stomach growled again. The hunger was suddenly intense and overpowering, '_I…need… food.'_ Zombie mode engaged.

I shoved the rest of the covers off of me and shifted my feet over the side of the bed, waiting a couple seconds for the light-headedness to fade. Sliding to the floor my bandaged feet made a muted thud as they contacted the ground. The cool wood sent shivers up my spine as I began walking quietly towards the door. I heard shuffling behind me as someone shifted in bed.

Coming up to the large wooden doorway I gripped the knob and turned it, slowly pulling open the door. The creaking made me shudder internally as I worried if I would wake anyone. Nothing shifted in the pre-dawn light as I slid out of the small opening I had made.

Coming onto the landing I saw the dilapidated railing that prevented people from falling, wondering to myself how exactly it could hold itself up, let alone a person. Turning I walked to the stairwell across the landing, grasping the railway at the top step I noticed that my hand was shaking. The trembling was minuscule but still there, '_The dream must have shaken me up more than I thought.'_ I noticed the objective way I was viewing everything around me, something I only did when incredibly stressed out.

'_Get a hold of yourself Skyler, it was just a dream… just a dream,'_ I thought, tensing my muscles and stopping the shaking. Gripping the railing tighter I turned to look down the ten foot drop. '_Not all that far, I should be able to take the fall.'_ I heaved myself over the edge and jumped to the floor, reveling in the air rushing past my face.

As I landed I tucked my legs in, using my momentum I rolled myself forward breaking the fall and propelling me into standing position.

Panting a little I smiled, adrenaline helping break me out of my shock. Walking over to the bar counter that covered the entire east wall I spotted an opening in the end of it. Arriving at the opening I walked underneath the lift able counter, frowning at the fact that I didn't even have to bend.

Behind the counter were shelves, lining the inside of the hollowed out space. All of them were empty, cue growling stomach. "Dang it, where is the food." I groaned out. Clutching at my stomach I looked around, spotting a door leading farther into the building. Walking through it I found a large kitchen, complete with pots, pans and every other thing a working food preparation room would need.

'_Food, food… come on where is the food!... there!'_ I spotted a loaf of bread on one of the counters. Rushing towards it I found that the counter was a lot taller than it had originally looked… or I was shorter. Huffing in frustration I leaped up and grabbed onto the top of the counter.

"Huuhg, mmmf, grrr." I grunted as I heaved myself up, pulling myself over the edge I panted for a couple seconds. "When the heck did I get so out of shape?" I said to no one in particular. Standing up I walked over and picked up the large loaf of bread, biting into it as soon as it neared my face.

Oh food. I ate ravenously, ripping through the crust and everything else, my fangs making short work of it all. Half of the loaf later and I was starting to feel bloated. Looking at the bread longingly I sat down and waited for digestion to start, the hunger still persevered despite the fact that if I ate anymore I would just puke it up… probably because I ate too fast.

As I was sitting I noticed that there were still bandages covering my feet. '_…wait a second.'_ It took several thought cycles to realize what had happened, '_Wait, my feet!'_ Reaching down I grabbed my foot and lifted it up, peeling away the bandages I quickly uncovered my foot and found… nothing. My foot was completely unblemished.

"What the?" I said, checking again. My foot was completely unscarred, not a scratch or old mark on it. "… Holy crap the bat crap worked!" I exclaimed. I quickly un-bandaged the other foot and flexed my toes, marveling at how smooth it looked.

I stood up quickly and bounced on the balls of my feet for a second, loving the feeling of the cold counter as it slid beneath my soles. You never really realize how much you use them until you can't. "Yes!" I shouted in joy, pumping my fist in the air. '_Now I won't have to worry about Link having to carry me.'_

"Well it seems you're feeling better." A voice startled me out of my reverie.

Cursing slightly I turned around, bringing my hands up to block any attack that the hooded man would throw my way. Quickly scanning the area my eyes locked onto two deep blue orb's, sparkling in a emotion I couldn't decipher. "Oh, it's just you." I said, relaxing my stance while looking at Link, "Really, would it kill you to not give me a heart attack every time you find me with my back turned?" I asked, slightly peeved but relived that it wasn't the hooded man come out of my dreams.

"Sorry," He said, smiling. "I didn't think you would be so startled." Link started walking over to me while I sat down, hanging my legs over the table. "So, are you ready for today?' He asked while leaning against the counter.

"Yeah, I am, you got a plan?" I asked him.

Before he could reply Renado burst into the kitchen, pulling a still groggy Luda in behind him. "Oh Sam," he said upon seeing me, "I was wondering where you went, but it's good to see you up and about, how are your feet?"

"Ah—um yeah, they're great." I said, flashing him a thumbs up. "Thanks for the guano… it really worked."

Renado laughed before saying, "Of course, no problem." He then turned to Link, "And how are you doing this morning?"

"Just fine thank you. And how are you?" Link replied with his trademark smile.

Luda walked over to me, officially distracting me from the rest of the conversation, and pulled herself up onto the counter to sit next to me. As she was shifting to get comfortable her hand brushed against my side, causing me to shudder involuntarily and scoot over a little.

"Is something wrong?" Luda asked, looking at me in a concerned way.

"Oh, it's nothing." I said with an attempted smile. '_Stop being such a pansy!'_ I scolded myself, '_Just because you had a creepy dream doesn't mean you have to freak out at every little thing.' _While paranoid, the action was completely involuntary, something I knew and that is why it bothered me so much.

"Okay, whatever you say." She said, reaching her hands over her head and stretching.

"WHAT!" the outcry caused me to jump about five feet. "Your going to take her there! Are you insane!" Renado shouted at Link.

Link had a nervous and slightly guilty look on his face, "It's not that bad. Were're only going up the mountain, what's the worst that could happen?" he attempted to defend.

"The worst that could happen? I can understand your idea but really, taking a nine year old girl up and active volcano, with or without angry Gorons, is a very stupid idea!" Renado said to Link, giving him a disapproving glare and crossing his arms.

"Hey!" I attempted to insert as I realized what this conversation was about. They both looked at me for a second. '_Wait… nine… really?'_ the disgruntled thought intruded on me. My moment's distraction was all it took for them to start arguing again. Renado going on about how it was too dangerous and Link trying to say how it was necessary.

"Hey—wait a sec—will you just listen- QUIET!" I shouted out, effectively silencing the argument. Link and Renado both turned to give me an incredulous look. "Just listen for a second." I said, standing up on the counter so I could look them more easily in the eyes. It's hard to seem decisive when looking up at someone.

"I understand how it can seem a little crazy Renado, but I need to go with Link." I said. Renado attempted to insert something but I cut him off, "It is really important." I stressed.

Renado folded his arms before asking, "And why is this so important, hmm?" I opened and closed my mouth for a second, looking at Link who just shrugged and seemed to say, 'you're on your own.'

"Umm, it's important because… uh… because," I stuttered for a second, then a idea struck me, "Because that's where I need to go to find my family." I said.

"…" Renado looked at me for a second, "Your family is on Death Mountain?" He asked, arching his eyebrows.

"Uhh, no, not my family, just where I need to go to find them." I said, Renado's skeptical look grew, "They come from a traveling caravan, it is always moving and that's how I got separated." I said, pretending to tear up at the thought, "I got lost during the storm and couldn't find them. They usually stop to trade with the Gorons as part of the route, so they would probably know the next stop." I ended with a sniffle, making my eyes look as sad as possible I looked up at Renado.

"Ahh, oh. Well I guess," he began awkwardly, face softening a bit.

'_Yes! Score one for the puppy dog look!'_ I inwardly celebrated, keeping my sad face on the outside. I could make out Luda to my side giving me a sympathetic look, '_Make that score two.'_

Renado sighed, "Well, even if that's the case, why do you need to go up there. Couldn't Link just go and find out."

"Ah, that's because, uhh." I began, searching for ideas. Then Link came to my rescue.

"The Gorons don't disclose information like that. They keep the confidentiality of those they work with. They wouldn't tell me unless they saw that I had a legitimate reason, and they would probably need Sam there as proof." He ended. I smiled gratefully up at him and he winked when Renado looked away for a second.

"…Fine, if that's the case then I guess it's necessary." Renado admitted. Then he looked to Link with a serious expression on his face, "You better make sure she's safe. If anything happens to her and her parents don't kill you, I will." He ended.

"Of course, I wouldn't have it any other way." Link responded, face equally serious.

I felt my mouth drop open slightly, this never happened back home. People who are complete strangers here care more about my well being than my old family… sort of a depressing thought.

Renado nodded and then his face brightened up, "Well, now that that's settled, let's all have breakfast." He said cheerfully.

I turned slightly green at the thought of more food, '_Urk… yeah, carbo-loading early in the morning is not a smart thing to do.'_

(LINE BREAK)

I looked up the large, netted incline in front of me. '_Wait… something happens here… something that I need to remember…but what was it?'_ the thought that had been bugging me resurfaced.

Ever since we had left the inn, something had been teetering on the brink of my mind, taunting me with near remembrance. It wasn't necessarily key, but looking up the first of the large cliffs on the way to Death Mountain I couldn't help but be annoyed by my lack of memory.

"Something wrong Skyler?" a voice questioned.

"Oh, it's nothing," I said, looking at Link, "Just trying to remember something."

"Don't strain yourself Princess." Came a mocking voice from Links shadow.

"Shut up!" I shouted at said shadow. I felt the urge to stomp on it again but I had already learned on the way here that all that did was hurt my foot. The happy chuckle that followed did nothing to ease my annoyance.

"Okay then, let's see what's up there." Link inserted, walking up to the cliff face. He turned back to me and asked, "You coming?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, just give me a second." I replied. Not being able to remember what ever it was annoyed me. Link shrugged and grabbed onto the netting, pulling himself up one hand at a time. I half watched him go, mind only slightly interested as I continued to think.

'_Grrr, what could it be?' _ I grumbled to myself. Suddenly a gravely voice spoke up from the top of the cliff.

"Hey you! No humans allowed!" A ominous rumbling followed the words.

'_Oh yeah, there's a Goron blocking the trail!'_ I thought, slamming my right fist into my left palm. '_You need to get the iron boots from Mayor Bo to get past.'_

"Guwahhh!" the scream split the air as a green blur flew over the edge and fell to the ground in a heap. "Uuuuaun." The green thing groaned. Midna suddenly popped up in shadow form.

"Well, looks like someone's got a temper." She said, putting a hand on her hip, "Guess we'll need to find another way up." She turned towards me, "Got any ideas?"

"Owww, so not cool," Link said, sitting up. I walked over and ruffled his hair while he was still at my level.

"Aw, don't worry. I'm sure if you go up and ask nicely he'll let you go by." I said in a slightly mocking tone. Link just glared at me.

"Ha ha, very funny. Now how do you think should try and get past him." He said, turning to Midna. She just shrugged and made a noncommittal grunt.

"Not my job to think up how to do it. That's what servants are for." She said in a dead serious tone. I face palmed at the sight.

Link was silent for a second, "What if we sneak past them?" he said, causing me to groan silently.

"Really, we need to figure out a way to stop the Gorons." I said, "Even if we sneak past one there are probably more to come. You can't sneak past them all."

"Fine then Princess, what do you suggest we do." Midna said, shooting me a haughty look.

"Go to Mayor Bo of course." I said like it was obvious… then cringed at their dubious looks.

"Why would we go to Mayor Bo?" Link questioned.

"Ah… um." I began, '_Crap, I forgot. Renado is the one who told them about Bo.'_ "Umm, didn't you see the wrestling ring in his house?" I asked. Midna and Link both looked at me with an incredulous expression. "Yeah, when I was over there he told me about how he used to wrestle Gorons and win." I crossed my fingers behind my back in hope.

"Huh… I've never heard that." Link said. He had a thoughtful expression on his face, "I never thought that Mayor ever lived outside of Ordon, but I guess that he was young at one time to… Well, I guess it can't hurt to ask him." He ended.

I let out my breath in relief, that is until I gasped it back in as Midna's shadow form loomed in front of me. "Hmmm, I guess we could try your idea." She began menacingly, "But if your wrong and this turns out to be a waste of our _very_ valuable time you may find me less… _agreeable._" She added emphasis to the last word, causing me to shudder.

"Hey, no need to argue. Besides, I need to return anyways to tell everyone about the kids." Link spoke up. Midna glared at him before grumbling something unintelligible and jumping back into his shadow. Link shook his head and looked at me, "Let's go." He said.

"Sure," I replied. We began walking down the trail in companionable silence, my mind swirling at Midna's threat. '_What if she wasn't joking… oh who am I kidding, since when has that imp joked about anything to do with her revenge.'_ I started to worry, '_I'm right, right? Yes, I'm sure you get the boots from Bo.'_ I relaxed a little but was still worried. '_What if my telling them changes something? No, that wouldn't happen. What would he do with the boots? Throw them out?'_ These last thoughts helped me relax a even more.

I shifted my belt around, tugging at the dagger sheath to get it in a more comfortable position. I was quite glad that Luda hadn't managed to force me into that dress earlier this morning. It would have been horrible walking around in something more breezy than the overlarge shirt I was wearing now. Tugging at the hem of one of the sleeves I noticed how its fabric wasn't as nice as the tunic I had borrowed from Link the other day. '_Huh, who would of thought? Ancient hero clothes are more comfortable that the civilian clothes of a more modern Hyrule.'_

Looking up I realized that we were nearing the village already, apparently lost in my thoughts we had traveled fairly fast. Link suddenly held out his hand.

"Wait," he said. He reached down a plucked up a piece of u-shaped grass, bringing it up to his mouth he played a familiar tune. A three note scale, starting high and decreasing in volume with each note. '_Epona's song,'_ I thought. I was amazed at the beautiful and clear melody the piece of vegetation managed to produce, I doubt I could have done any better with a flute.

Link smiled down at me, "Just wait a second," he said. A couple minutes later Epona came thundering down the road, coming to a stop next to Link.

"Cool," I said in slight awe. You have to admit that having a horse trained to come by grass whistle was pretty cool.

Link stepped up into the stirrups, swinging himself into the saddle before bending over the side and stretching out his hand. "Grab on." He said. I reached up and grabbed onto his hand and with a sudden pull I was up and on the saddle.

Link looked back and seeing the grumpy look on my face asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I grumbled, "It's just annoying realizing I'm so light."

Link burst into laughter before saying, "Well hold on, we're going fast."

"Gwaahh!" I cried out, startled, as we suddenly lurched into motion. Quickly wrapping my arms around Links waist so as not to fall off I grumbled to myself again. "Stupid too small body… and stupid boy's in green tunics that ride horses everywhere." I added as I squeezed tighter as the horse accelerated. I swear, I couldn't wait to get back to having cars as the major mode of transportation.

(LINE BREAK)

"Huuuuaaaahhh," I yawned leisurely, sitting up in bed and stretching. Flipping the covers off of me I turned and hung my legs over the side of the cot, grimacing slightly at my sore muscles.

Yesterday had passed pretty uneventfully. Link and I had traveled by horseback to Ordon, significantly diminishing the time it took to get there. It was a peaceful ride… if you discount Midna. The stupid imp princess spent the entire trip either insulting me or telling me how much trouble I would be in if I was wrong about Mayor Bo. Link tried to mediate but…Let's just say that if Midna hadn't been a shadow and I wasn't holding onto Links waist for dear life I would have throttled her on multiple occasions.

When we were nearly to Ordon I decided that it would be better if I didn't go meet everyone. I told Link that I didn't want to risk anyone connecting me with my old self, but that wasn't the real reason and I'm pretty sure he could tell. The great thing about Link though is that he is so considerate… he was also probably pretty relieved for the reprieve from Midna and me arguing.

_As Link slowly walked away, pulling Epona by the reigns behind him a thought struck me. "Oh wait," I called out to his retreating form, "If Mayor Bo asks, say you found out about his skills from Renado."_

_ "Renado?" Link asked, looking confused._

_ "Just tell him." I said, still grumpy and sore from our ride I was in no mood for an argument._

_ "Okay?" he said, turning to continue on down the path to Ordon. He suddenly stopped, pulling Epona's reigns to stop her as well. "Midna, why don't you wait with Skyler?"_

_ "WHAT!" came the dual exclamation. Links shadow started shifting before turning into an agitated Midna._

_ "You can't really expect me to stay with that can you?!" She shouted at him._

_ "Yeah you can't—Hey wait a minute!" I shouted back, glaring at the imp._

_ "Stop arguing!" Links loud voice interrupted, "You," he said, pointing at Midna, "There is no need for insults, just stay with her and make sure nothing happens. And You," he turned to point at me, "At least try to get along with Midna will you?"_

_ Midna and I grumbled unintelligibly for a few seconds before she seemed to get a hold of herself and her smug smirk returned. "Fine," she said, "I'll watch over the Princess. Just hurry back." _

_ "Hey-," I was cut off by a sharp look from Link, "…Fine, I'll try and 'get along'," I muttered._

_ Link nodded and walked away, leading Epona with him. Turning I stared into Midna's eyes as we had a glaring contest. Five minutes and no clear victor latter I looked away, Midna smirking at that, before I asked, "So… you know any games?"_

And so began our 'bonding time.' Two and a half hours or trying to out-do each other in any kind of games we could think of from push-ups to riddles.

When Link finally returned with his boots we were both quite tired. Upon seeing what he had gotten Midna grudgingly admitted I was right and a temporary truce was born. The entire ride home was actually not all that bad. Midna and I got along better and the heated arguments only erupted once or twice on the long journey.

It still took us a long time to make it back to Kakariko village, if I had to guess I'd say it wasn't until about three in the morning.

So coming back to the present I found upon arriving at the stairwell that it was well into the day. Walking down the stairs I tugged at the dull brown fabric I was wearing, last night I had been too tired to change so I was still wearing the same old clothes. Luckily they still smelled relatively fresh. Reaching around I found that my bag and dagger were still strapped to my waist, '_Yikes, luckily it was in its sheathe,'_ I thought as my mind played through all the dangers of sleeping with a live blade.

Shaking off the thoughts I continued on my way. At the bottom of the stairs I looked up to see a groggy Link sitting at the bar, munching on bread and cheese.

"Hey, Link," I said, causing him to jump a little.

"Oh, hey Sk—err, Sam." He corrected his mistake before it was fully out. Looking over I notice Renado standing up from where he had been crouched behind the bar doing something.

"Good morning Sam." He said smiling, "you sleep well?"

"Like a rock." I said. Reaching up I grabbed onto one of the stools and hefted myself up, gingerly sitting down on my sore hind-quarters.

Reaching over I grabbed a slice of bread and some cheese from the tray near Link, "So, what time is it anyways?" I asked.

"Nearly noon," Renado replied.

"Woah, we've nearly lost half the day!" I exclaimed. I began eating at a furious pace, trying to get in my breakfast as fast as I could. Looking over I saw Link still eating at a sedated pace. "Hurry up!" I shouted out him with a mouth full of food, causing it to come out sounding more like, 'Hffury Fup!"

Link just looked at me with an amused expression so I struggled to swallow the large wad of food in my mouth, coughing a little as it went down. "Common, hurry up we have a big day today!" I said.

"What's the big rush?" Link asked. '_The big rush?!'_ I thought, '_The big rush is that I don't want to be stuck in a volcano for the night, so lets hurry up and get here fast!'_

"Just do it, trust me." I told Link at an excited pace, continuing to shovel food down my throat. Seeming to sense some urgency he quickly finished his bread and cheese, getting off his stool as I dropped off of mine.

"You seem excited," Renado spoke up with a twinkle in his eye, "Well I hope you find the lead you're looking for."

I just nodded and flashed him a thumbs up, still trying to swallow the last of my breakfast. I reached up and grabbed Links large hand and dragged him out of the door.

Squinting at the sudden increase in light it took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the brightness.

Looking around I noticed that all the kids were out playing something on the main road of the town. As we descended the steps of the in Talo spotted us and called out to everyone else. Suddenly we were being charged by a horde of children.

Talo rushed past me and flying tackle Link, causing him to take a step back. Malo followed closely behind, latching onto his knee. Beth shoved me over in her haste to get to Link, causing me to land on my butt with an 'oomph.'

"Stupid jerk," I muttered to myself quietly. I stood up and brushed myself off as Luda came up to me.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just fell." I said.

"So, did you find out where your family is going?" she questioned.

"Oh, no. We needed to get something else before we headed up, so hopefully we'll know by tomorrow." I replied. I looked back to see that Link was in the middle of a three on one wrestling match with three very excited kids. '_Wait.' _I thought, '_Where is Colin? I could have sworn I saw him.'_ Turning around I saw him awkwardly shuffling his feet while staring at the ground about five yards from us.

"Excuse me for a second." I said to Luda, and walked over to Colin. As a neared him he glanced up. Smiling I asked, "How're you doing?"

"Oh, h-hey Sam. I'm fine, how about you?" he replied.

My answer was broken off by a sound like thunder as it reverberated across the valley. Turning to the right I saw dust flying around the corner of the road as the sound grew in intensity. Suddenly several huge boars carrying bubblin riders burst around the corner of the bend, only twenty yards from us. I heard Colin gasp and Link shout, "Get out of the way!" as he lifted the three children near him off of the road.

Luda rushed to the side and I was about to follow when I noticed Colin had frozen in place. '_Darn it!'_ I cursed.

Spinning around I reached down and pulled out my dagger, suddenly everything seemed to slow. The black triforce on my hand flared up as I felt energy pouring into my arm. The lead boar carrying the King Bubblin was just yards away from Colin now; torking my body sideways I threw the dagger as hard as I could. With a noise similar to something breaking the sound barrier it burst away from me, surrounded by a dark energy.

Dashing forward I grabbed Colin around the chest and pivoted to the side, flinging him out of the way. Looking up as watched as my dagger flew at the King Bubblin, causing him yank on the reins of his boar and kick up more dust as it attempted to slow down, but it was too late. The dagger spun and came in contact with his shoulder blade first, ripping through the armor protecting it. Before I could celebrate thought he was on me.

With the sound of squealing animals I was surrounded by a large cloud of dust. Coughing I attempted to find my way out when suddenly something huge collided with me, yanking me into the air and pinning my arms to the side. Coughing and gasping I was yanked to a stop what felt like miles off the ground.

Disoriented I looked up and found myself face to face with a grinning King Bubblin. '_Huh? What! I sliced through his shoulder, how is he still using that arm?!'_ Looking over I saw that although his armor was shredded the blade had completely missed his flesh.

His fist suddenly tightened, causing me to gasp out in pain as I felt a few ribs pop. The next thing I know we were galloping forward, rushing down the road and past the others. As I was jostled in the Bubblins grip I saw Link rushing after us, then the boar turned a corner and I could see him no more.

Grimacing I tried to steady myself by tensing all my muscles and pushing out against his hand, opening my mouth I bit down on the finger in front of my head, fangs sinking deep into the flesh.

"GWAHHH!" the pained sound burst out, nearly deafening me. Suddenly I was spinning through the air, only holding onto the hand by my teeth. The Bubblins other hand wrapped around me and yanked me away, pulling out my teeth and several chunks of his flesh. I was being shaken like a rag doll, up, down, left, right, nearly causing me to puke.

I came to a rest held upside down in his fist. Suddenly the taste from his hand and blood filled my mouth causing me to gag, then puke. As I was jostled upside down I heaved out my breakfast and several pieces of Bubblin flesh, coughing as the acidic bile left my throat. I felt the Bubblin slow to a stop as he lifted me to look him in the eyes. He looked a lot more menacing when upside down, even if I could see up his nose.

Still dizzy I felt him press me against something hard, and then bind several ropes around me. After a minute of fiddling I felt myself lifted up, still upside down, held to a long rod like object.

"Uugh, let me go!" I shouted down at my tormentor. His only response was to violently shake the spear, nearly giving me whiplash as my head flew back and forth. I felt bile rise up again but this time I held it down.

Suddenly I heard a shout, looking out across the plains I saw Link galloping full speed towards me on Epona. He was pressed down low on his saddle, pushing Epona to go faster. I heard what sounded like a chain smokers cough, and looking down I saw that it was the Bubblin laughing.

"Oh, I'll give you something to laugh about." I muttered to myself. "Hrrrrkkk," I formed the disgusting sound in the back of my throat as I drew mucus and saliva into my mouth. Spitting it out I hawked the loagi right into the King Bubblins face, it landed with a splat on top of his helmet, slowly sliding down his brow.

I smiled for a second until my stomach leapt into my throat as I fell rapidly. The Bubblin had dropped his spear and grabbed it right before it hit the ground, once again lowering me to his eye level. As the mucusy substance slid between his eyes he reached up a hand and flicked me in the forehead.

Pain split through my head as the surprisingly powerful finger sent my head bouncing against the spear, leaving me dizzy and disoriented. I vaguely noticed the spear and myself being lifted back up as I tried to get my vision to focus.

Suddenly I had the breath taken from me as the Bubblin and boar he was ridding accelerated, reaching a breakneck pace as we charged forward.

"Skyler!" I heard a voice call from behind us. Tilting my head back I saw Link gaining on us quickly, riding Epona at an incredible speed. "Hold on!" he shouted again.

A lot easier said then done, even tied to the pole the way it bounced and swayed with each motion made me feel like I was going to go tumbling off at any second. Concentrating on Link I noticed two other boars with bubblin riders coming up behind Link.

"Look out!" I shouted at him. Link turned over his shoulder and saw the bubblin preparing to smash him with a hammer. He yanked Epona's reigns to the side, causing her to turn out of the way and the bubblin's hammer missed. He drew his sword with practiced ease and turned Epona towards them.

Charging up to their side he swung his sword in a large, one handed arc, slicing the first bubblin in half and cutting the other ones arm off. I watched as the first one dissipated into black goo, but the other one just howled in pain as blood pumped from its severed arm.

Link lifted himself up in his saddle and kicked the boar in the side of the head, causing it to veer off with an angry squeal.

"Yeah, go Link!" I shouted encouragingly as I saw him turn back towards me and increase Epona's pace to regain the lost ground between us. I heard the King Bubblin grunt angrily and felt the pole shake even more than usual. '_Dang, how do I get out of this,'_ I thought. Link was now taking care of the other boar of bubblins while I watched, '_No way am I going to play damsel in distress.'_ I thought angrily, '_But how to get out… wait, my nails!'_ I felt like slamming my head into a wall, '_How the heck could I forget my nails?'_

Extending my fingers I hooked my sharpened nails deep into the fibers of the rope. Pulling I attempted to slice it off but it was ineffective. '_Dang, rope is too tough… maybe a sawing motion.'_ I tightened my fingers into a spear like fashion and began rubbing them back and forth along the rope. I felt them give a little and cheered inside my head, then everything moved.

The King Bubblin screamed in pain as he jerked his reigns to the side, pulling away from Link who had slashed him across the side. I saw Link pull up again and attempt to cut the Bubblin again. I continued sawing at the ropes as he hacked off another piece of armor, sword sparking as it crashed into the steel plating.

"Gwaaooh!" the Bubblin roared in anger as he swung a meaty fist at Link, Link ducked away from the punch and avoided it by a hairs breadth. Shifting in his saddle again he extended out and swung his sword in a diagonal sweeping motion, slicing off the leather straps that held the chest protector to King Bubblin, the same motion slicing deep wound in his side.

The Bubblin roared in pain and jerked his reigns to the left, kicking into the side of the boar and causing it to take off. Looking over I saw we were heading towards a bridge. '_Dang, he's trying to escape!'_ I thought in panic, redoubling my efforts to cut the rope. I felt one of the bands snap off and I cut through it, quickly moving onto the next one.

I suddenly felt myself rising through the air as gravity temporarily seemed to decrease, suddenly it came back a vengeance as the boar slammed into the ground on the other side of a hay fence. My breath was stolen from me as the ropes cut into my arms, squeezing me as all my forward momentum was stopped.

Then we were charging forward again, across the large stone bridge. Four seconds later and we came to a jarring halt as King Bubblin ripped the boar around, turning to look down the bridge.

Looking up I saw Link and Epona jumping over the hay barrier, landing on the other side. Suddenly bubblins appeared above us on both sides, raising flaming arrows. I watched as the launched them at the barriers, lighting them on fire and effectively blocking our way out until the fire burned out.

I heard the Bubblin breathing heavily as the spear holding me lowered slightly, decreasing my plane of vision. I hurriedly sawed at the rope, there was no way I was going to fall off this bridge strapped to a spear, it was narrow and there seemed to be a very large fall on either side.

With a screech the boar rose up on its hind legs before slamming back down and taking off at a break neck pace. I clenched my teeth as we accelerated towards Link who was also galloping towards us. Within two seconds we had reached each other, Link swerved Epona slightly to the side and swung his sword in a horizontal sweep just as the Bubblin struck out with his fist. With the sound of slicing flesh Links sword tore through the Bubblins side again, but the Bubblins fist came in contact with his shoulder, sending Link crashing to the side.

I turned my head in horror to look behind as we passed and saw Link barely managing to hold onto Epona as she galloped forward, hanging for dear life off the side of the saddle.

'_No'_ I thought as we slowed at the end of the bridge to turn around again, '_Link can't stand another blow like that.'_ Right after the thought I felt another rope snapped, effectively freeing the top part of my body.

Reaching up I grabble onto the spear and started to pull my legs out from their trapped position. I gripped harder as we accelerated again, the sound of the Bubblin's hard breathing the loudest thing I could hear.

Suddenly I felt the ropes trapping my legs give up their hold, and yanking them out I let go and fell towards the Bubblin.

"KIIAAAIII!" I shouted as I grabbed onto the large horn on top of the Bubblins head, yanking down the helmet over his eyes and slamming my feet into his chest. He made a startled sound and I could make out Links surprised look as his sword cut into the Bubblin shoulder, the momentum caring the Bubblin off of his boar and over the edge of the bridge.

I felt myself flip into the air as I lost my grip on the horn, flying through the air I attempted to grab onto something, anything to stop myself, but there was nothing. Arching through the air I saw the bridge disappear from under me, reaching the top of my arch I felt like I was floating, then I began to fall. My hair whipped around my face as I started to descend.

"Ommph," I grunted out as I slammed into something hard, stopping my fall. Looking up I saw a bluish orange appendage holding onto me, leading up to a shadow clad Midna.

"That's twice I've saved you're hide." She said, looking down at me.

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**Once again, sorry if the story seems to be going slow. It should pick up more soon. The next chapter is the Fire Dungeon so look forward to it!**

**As always, reviews are greatly appreciated so reveiw!**

**Guppy out.**


	6. Adventure 5: Volcanic Expedition Part 1

**Hello faithful readers! Guess who's back from the grave!**

**Sorry about the incredibly long delay, I have no excuse... hehe. *Sweat drops* Well, anyways, thanks for the reviews, they are greatly appreciated. If you notice I am no longer thanking for them in my AN's because I have heard from some people that it is bothersome, so in the future I will try to reply directly. **

**Well, enjoy the story!**

* * *

Adventure 5: Volcanic Expedition Part 1

I looked up the netted climb of the first of the ledges leading to Death Mountain. The large expanse of rock loomed above me as I gripped a fist full of the rope.

"Shouldn't you wait until after I've beaten the Goron?" came a questioning voice from behind me. Turning I looked at the green clad hero before replying.

"Nah, I'm sure it'll be no problem at all." I said. After all, it only took one try in the game… unless you sucked.

"Okay, but are you sure you can make it up on your own?" he asked again. I fixed Link with a withering glare, not even deigning to give his question a response. Reaching up I pulled myself up a couple inches, slipping my foot into one of the rungs. Pushing off I pulled myself up again, gaining more distance as I rose up the face of the incline.

I heard Link sigh before the crunch of gravel announced that he was coming to the wall. Ignoring him I focused on climbing, lifting my body was proving to be more of a challenge than I had originally thought, '_Curse this pitiful body!'_ I mental shouted, frowning as I had to struggle to get the next foot hold; I wasn't even halfway up the cliff and I was already breathing hard.

Reaching for the next rung a hand shot up on my side, clutching the rope next to mine, Link grunted slightly as he pulled himself up past me. '_What the, how did he get up here so fast?!'_ Redoubling my efforts I caught up to him and managed to stay with him until nearly the top. Then Link used his superior size to reach the extra distance and yank himself over the top. Three seconds later I yanked myself up after him, rolling onto my back and panting as I tried to catch my breath.

Looking over I noticed that Link was brushing himself off as he stood there, looking like he had done no labor whatsoever.

"What the heck," I groaned out, "How did you manage to beat me and look like you didn't even try!"

Link gave me a surprised look before asking, "You mean that was a race?" I looked at him incredulously for a second before muttering dark things and standing up. This body seriously stunk; it was weak, short, and couldn't do half the things my old one could.

"Hey you!" a loud and gravelly voice cut through the air, startling me and causing me to turn and look up the path. A large, vaguely humanoid beast stood there, looking like a yellow turtle with rocks coming out of its shell, it stood over eight feet tall. Its large body was covered in strange tattoos and the only form of clothing it wore was a large loin cloth.

"No human's allowed by order of the elders!" the beast said as it began to curl into a ball. I felt pressure on my shoulder as I was moved out of the way by Link.

"Stay back for a second, I'll handle the Goron." He said. Link walked forward a step, tapped his heels together and settled into a deep horse stance. Taking a few steps back I was surprised at the way he seemed to sink into the ground.

'_He didn't even put on the boots,'_ I thought, moving out of the way. Suddenly there was a rumbling noise as the Goron propelled its body forwards, spinning at a rapid rate. Link sunk deeper into his stance and braced for impact. With the sound of a freight train coming to a halt, the Goron bashed into Link. As Link strained against the force he was shoved backwards a few feet. Pulling one leg out of the furrow Link twisted and tossed the Goron to the side, a surprised yelp sounded out as it flew off the edge of the cliff.

Link stood up and clicked his boots together again, rising slightly as they seemed to lose weight.

"What the—how the-," I stuttered as I attempted to form my question. Link gave me a confused look.

"The iron boots I got from Mayor Bo," he said, "You're the one who told me to get them."

"Yeah, but you didn't even put them on!" I exclaimed.

Realization dawned on his face, "Oh, you don't know how the boots work," he said, looking at me while I fixed him with a confused expression, "The boots have an enchantment on them, they aren't really made of iron, they just take on the propertied of it when you activated the enchantment. All you have to do it touch your heels together… see?" he demonstrated and I watched as he suddenly sunk into the earth. Another click and he was light again.

The sight of him clicking his heels together brought back memory of a film with a certain girl and a pair of red slippers. I felt myself smile as I giggled at the thought of Link in a dress… before slamming my hands over my mouth. '_What the heck? Did I just giggle!?'_

"What's wrong," Link asked, seeing my expression of horror.

I glared at him for a second before removing my hands and muttering, "Nothing." I was just glad he didn't notice the giggle, no need to give him something to make fun of… but I'd definitely have to watch out in the future, what if I became totally girlified? I shuddered at the thought.

"Common, let's keep going." I said, marching down the trail ahead of us.

(LINE BREAK)

I gasped as I trudged up the last step, bending over and resting my hands on my knees I gasped for breath. Link did the same to my left, sticking his sword, point first, into the hard soil. I wanted to laugh at the way his face was covered in soot and his pants looked singed but I knew I didn't look much better.

On the way up we, and by we I mean Link, had to stop not only several Gorons, but run past a group of bubblins toting fire arrows. The experience was not one I wanted to repeat, I had narrowly avoided arrows on multiple occasions and several had managed to singe me. They had caught a row of bushes in front of us on fire and we had to jump through them, hence the sooty faces.

"Hey look," Midna's voice suddenly intruded upon our thoughts, her shadowy for directing our attention towards the foot of the mountain. As we watched as Goron got on top of another's back and was propelled into the air and onto the next level. "Looks like we've found a way in." Midna said.

I gulped at the sight of it, what had seemed so harmless in the game now looked very scary.

"Well, we had better get going," Link said, tugging his sword out of the ground. We made our way down the path, jumping down the repeating ledges that lead to the large rocky clearing in the middle. The Goron seemed completely oblivious to our coming and didn't react until we were within feet of him.

"Wahh, you shouldn't be here!" he cried, jumping back a step and pointing at us. He quickly brought his hands into a boxing position, preparing to stop us. Link leapt in with a jab of his sword, contacting the Goron in his stomach. With the sound of metal on rock the sword grated off, knocking the breath out of the Goron and causing him to curl into a ball.

"Quickly," Midna said from Link's shadow, "Onto his back!" Link slid his sword into its sheath and leapt up, grabbing onto the Goron's rocky back and pulling himself up. I raced over to its side and jumped after him, missing the top by inches. As I began falling Links hand caught my arm, pulling me up and holding me to his chest.

The Goron started vibrating and suddenly popped up with amazing force. The next thing I knew the world is spinning and I felt the centrifugal force pushing me back into Link. With a jolt the world stopped spinning as Link slammed into something hard.

My vision was still spinning when he set me down, grabbing my shoulder to stop me from falling over.

"Are you okay?" Link asked.

"Uuh, y-yeah." I said as I clutched my head and the spinning slowly stopped, "How are you not dizzy?" I asked amazed that the trip seemed to have no effect on him.

Link just grinned before releasing my shoulder and pulling out his sword. I was about to follow when the mountain started to rumble, spewing out balls of molten rock. Jumping to the side I took refuge next to the wall, quickly followed by Link.

After a short time the rumbling stopped the flying debris ceased their pounding. Link carefully stepped out and upon not becoming a flaming crater motioned for me to follow.

I stepped out to follow him, coming to a stop as I noticed a whistling noise, sort of like something heavy falling through the air. Looking up I had all of three seconds to notice that a black shape was hurtling towards me.

"CLANG!" with the crashing sound everything went black.

(LINE BREAK)

"Uuun," I groaned as I slowly came to. My head was ringing and it felt like I'd just been bludgeoned. Opening my eyes I looked up to see the concerned face of Link, hovering over me. "What happened?" I gritted out through clenched teeth, even speaking sent sharp jabs of pain through my head.

"Oh great, you're okay," Links relieved voice sounded out, "I was worried for a second, what with all the blood and all."

"Huh, wait, what? Blood!?" I asked, attempting to move I realized that I was being held by Link while he was pressing something onto my head.

"Oh, don't be such a baby," came a snide remark from Links shadow, "It's just a scratch. Link, just give her a red potion, it should heal in seconds," Link turned to glare at the shadow.

"At least show a little sympathy, what would you do if you were hit over the head with a metal shield? It's lucky it barely clipped her." He said to the shadow.

"Wait, a shield?" I asked, confused. The throbbing in my head accompanied by the strange dialogue was not a good combination. Link turned back to me before responding.

"Yeah, it fell from that crate up there and nicked the side of your head." He said, shifting me slightly so he could point up at the jagged remains of a wooden crate hanging over the edge of the rise.

"It must have been hit by one of those volcanic rocks." Midna inserted, "You just had the bad luck of being underneath it."

"You think you can sit up?" Link asked, bringing my attention back to him.

"Yeah," I said, still a little woozy, "Just give me a second."

Link lifted me up carefully, levering my back so I could lie against the side of the mountain. He took one of my hands and pressed it to the cloth that was against my head, waiting until he was sure I could hold it there. I wanted to complain about how he was babying me but I decided it wasn't worth the headache it would cause.

While Link rummaged around in his pack for something I looked to my side. A large, steel shield was lying there; judging by the tri-force carved into it and the red bird shaped symbol it was of Hylian craftsmanship. The slight red tinting of one of the edges also seemed to speak that it was the same shield that had nearly brain me.

I glared at the hunk of steel for a few moments until Link tapped my shoulder. Turning I saw him holding out an un-corked bottle of red potion, his encouraging grin back on his face. Reaching out with my unoccupied hand I grabbed it around the top and brought it over to drink.

Powering through I drank about half the bottle before I had to come up for air. The thing tasted just as horrible as I remembered, all herby and fermented. Ignoring the taste I felt it take effect, the soothing sensation powering through my body, not only relieving my headache but many of my other little aches and pains.

"Here, let me check," Link said, coming close to me and pulling the bloody cloth from my forehead. He stared at it for a second before reaching up with the cloth and wiping away the blood that had crusted there. "There, it looks all better." He said with a smile.

I nodded and stood up, enjoying the sense of energy I had gained after drinking the potion. I offered the half empty bottle back to Link but he just shook his head and handed me the cork.

"Keep it, it could come in useful later." He said.

"Okay," I said, corking the bottle and reaching around I shoved it into my bag. As I did it I smiled, thinking about how it reminded me of those bank money dispensers. You but your money in a tube and they would vacuum it up and send back what you needed the same way.

"Hurry up, let's get going," Midna's annoyed voice wafted out, "We don't have all day."

"We don't have all day," I mimed childishly. I walked over to the shield and picked it up, grunting under the weight. Stumbling a little I brought it over to Link and held it up. "Here, you can use this."

Link looked surprised for a second, "What for, I already have a shield."

I glanced at him from over the top of said shield, "And where are we going?" I asked.

"Umm, a volcano." Link replied.

"And what is your shield made of?" I asked again, talking like I was explaining something simple to a child.

"Wood?" Link said it as more of a question.

"Yes, now how well does wood mix with what you find in volcanos?"

A look of enlightenment crossed Links face as he realized where I was going, "Oh, yeah… wood burns." He sheepishly scratched the back of his head before reaching around and unbuckling his wooden shield.

Watching him shove a two foot wide shield into a tiny waist bag was one of the funniest things I had ever seen. It was like when you shove a large ball of play-dough back into its container, the container doesn't move and the play-dough doesn't want to go in but eventually gives up and warps to fit the container. Now imagine that but instead of a struggling two year old there was a man in green; and instead of malleable play-dough, a large wooden shield. Let's just say I was hard pressed to control my laughter.

Once Link finally got the shield in he came over and took the metal one from me, fitting his arm into the handles.

"Okay, let's go." He said.

(LINE BREAK)

Four words for the people who designed the path to Death Mountain's summit, Die-In-A-Hole! I swear, not only do they put angry Gorons at every corner but they make them the only way to get up, not a single staircase…anywhere! Plus someone decided it would be fun to try and crush players under balls of fiery granite; I mean seriously, what could you possibly do to make it more frustrating?

By the time we reached the summit Link was cradling a bruised arm from all the Goron strikes he had to block and I was smoking from a very close encounter with rocks of a flaming kind. Taking a minute to catch our breath we both walked into the rectangular doorway cut in the side of the mountain.

When we entered the room I noticed two things, first, it was quite dim because it's only source of lighting were torches placed sporadically throughout it and second, we were being surrounded by a group of very scary Gorons.

"Stay back," Link said, pushing me slightly behind him, a fairly useless gesture considering the Gorons were on all sides.

"Halt!" came a shout from farther into the room. The Gorons suddenly stopped, backing up slightly and coming out of their crouches. Two of them stepped even farther out of the way, allowing for a small, and much older looking, Goron to pass though. He was only about Links height with spikey tufts of white rock shaped like hair jutting out of his head and what looked to balding spot in the center.

"Humans," he said, "Why do you come here? The mountain is closed to visitors, as you can see we are in a time of crisis." He indicated around us as the mountain shook from another series of tremors.

Link stepped forward and replied, "We are here to stop the spread of Twilight, and we believe that this place holds one of the keys to doing so."

"Hmm, we do not care much for the Twilight, it has not affected us, but we do have a problem," the Goron began, "Evil has spread through our tunnels, polluting the mind of our once great Patriarch. We have been forced to seal him deep within the caverns… but perhaps you can help. The only thing I can think of that you would be searching for is the weapon of the hero; an item that has been guarded by our people for generations." He looked sternly at Link, "I would not part with that item easily, but if you can free our Patriarch from the evil that binds him then it is yours."

Link looked the Goron in the eye before replying, "Deal."

The Goron smiled, "Very well, but first you must prove your strength. I am Gor Coron, one of the elders of our tribe. If you can beat me in a feat of strength, I will deem you worthy of this quest."

Link nodded and the Gorons around us parted to reveal a ring in the center of the room. Raised above the ground it had small stone steps leading up to a rock platform. Two strips of stone marked out the starting points for the contestants in the center. Link and Gor Coron stepped up and took their places on either side of each other.

"Let us begin," intoned Gor Coron, slapping the ground with both palms.

Link tapped his heels together, digging into the ground with his heels he sunk into a crouch and began circling with Gor Coron.

The elder suddenly lunged forward, attempting to take Links feet out from under him. Link leapt to the side, showing surprising agility for someone wearing steel boots. Shifting he rammed into the Goron, shoving him backward while Gor Coron attempted to regain his balance.

As they neared the edge the elder dug his heels in, placing both his hands on Links shoulder he shoved, causing Link to stumble back. They were circling again, this time Gor Coron was on the defensive as he tried to move away from the edge, but Link moved to block him every time.

Suddenly the Goron struck out, slapping Link across the side and causing him to lose concentration. Gor Coron took advantage and rammed into him, attempting to shove him backwards. Luckily Links boots caught into the dirt and after a couple of shoves he was able to get the elder off of him.

Link crouched low, darting to the side he slammed into the Goron, shoving with all his might. The previous attack had shifted Gor Coron too far to the right, now with Links point of leverage and his poor position he was in trouble. The elder made a valiant effort but he was in too bad of a position and Link shoved him off the edge.

With a thud the Goron landed on the ground outside the ring. Link clicked his heels together and walked down the steps to the elder. Gor Coron picked himself up and dusted himself off, turning to Link he said with a smile, "Amazing, I haven't seen such strength in a human in years. You have my respect, and permission to pass, the best of luck in your quest."

Link smiled back and said, "The same to you."

Gor Coron turned to two burly Gorons with folded arms guarding a doorway. "Let him pass." He said. The Gorons both shifted sideways, out of the way of the door. It looked sort of comical because of the way they kept their arms crossed.

As I was watching this I walked over to Link, looking over at Gor Coron, I waved and asked, "How ya doing?" Gor Coron started and turned to look at me, seeming to notice me for the first time.

"Oh, I did not see you there, and who are you?" he asked.

I fumed a little bit at that, "I'm Skyler." I said.

"And what are you doing here?"

"I'm making sure this guy doesn't do anything stupid and kill himself." I said, pointing to Link.

Gor Coron looked disbelievingly at Link for a second, "You are bringing a pup with you?" he asked.

'_Oh no he didn't,'_ I thought, face turning slightly red, "Hey, I'm not a _pup_!" I shouted, walking up to Gor Coron, "I can handle myself and take on any challenge you could throw my way!" I said, jabbing him in the chest with a finger, "I could even beat you in your stupid challenge of strength!" I stood panting next to him, glaring up into his eyes as I felt my anger slowly dissipate.

Gor Coron's face seemed to darken for a second and I got a foreboding feeling; then, suddenly, "HAHAHAHAHAHHAA!" He burst in to raucous laughter, bending over and clutching his stomach. "I like this one, she's got a fiery spirit." He gasped out between chuckles.

I just stared at him disbelievingly.

"Well, it looks like you've got your hands full," he said, speaking to Link, "I didn't think humans still attempted the trial of strength, let alone at such a young age; but I must say you chose an interesting time and place to do it. No human has used the mountain in decades."

I looked at him for a second, confused before asking, "Trial of Strength?"

Gor Coron turned to look at me, "Yes, a trial where younger generations prove their worth through a series of test of challenges… but surely you already know this?"

"Umm, oh, yeah… Trial of Strength. We, uh- call it something different where I come from." I stuttered out, trying my best to sound convincing. The elder smiled.

"Well then, the best of luck to you both." He said, indicating the path to the caverns. "May the goddesses be with you."

I stood there for a few seconds, trying to get my thoughts in line, before turning to walk towards the door. Link was already there waiting, standing slightly to the side and away from the giant Gorons who guarded the opening. I couldn't make fun of him for it though, they were big… especially from my view point.

When I reached the green clad hero he reached down and patted my shoulder, giving me an encouraging smile before walking into the cavern. Taking a deep breath I followed.

Gasping I staggered forward a few steps, instantly sweating from the intense heat. The door must have been enchanted to keep the heat out or something, the temperature must have risen thirty degrees as soon as I walked through the doorway.

Looking over I saw Link tugging at the neck of his shirt, attempting to cool off. I walked over the cracked dirt to him, carefully avoiding the places where it had split into crevices far enough for me to fall in.

"Hey, let's get moving. I want to get out of this heat as soon as possible." I said to Link. He just nodded and began walking down the path. Following him I took notice of how although it was dim there was still light in the room, it surprised me because we were in the center of a mountain… where does it come from?

My question was answered as we rounded a bend, a huge pit of lava coming into view, casting a reddish glow on its surroundings. As we neared the lava I groaned, the heat was intensifying, something I was definitely not happy about.

The large pool of molten liquid sluggishly rolled around, the only way across seemed to be a bunch of platforms coming out of the lava. They were spaced in such a way that you would have to jump to get to any of them.

Suddenly a geyser of molten rock shot up into air in front of us, and just as quickly Links hand jutted out to stop me from going even further. He watched as the geyser fell back into the rest of the lava, remaining silent for a second.

"Dang," he said, "I can't see any other way across. The only way is to jump." He turned and looked back at me, "You should stay here, I'll come back and get you when it's all over."

It took a second for me to full realize what he was suggesting, and then I puffed myself up to my full three and a half-foot height and said, "No way! I've come with you this far and there's no way I'm stopping now!"

"But -," He began.

"No buts," I said, cutting him off. Link sighed and then Midna decided to insert her two cents.

"Just let him come, if the princess fries then it's his own fault. Let's just get a move on; monsters to beat and fused shadows to collect you know!" she said.

I glared at the shadow for a second before turning to see Link still looking unsure. Huffing I saw the geyser separating the main mass of land and the first stool fall down. Sprinting forward I rushed past Link, reaching the edge of the land I jumped, clearing the distance with nearly a foot to spare.

"Common, hurry up!" I shouted to Link, already waiting for the next geyser to fall. I was hoping from one foot to the other because of how hot the rock underneath me was, trying my best to keep my feet from frying.

With a hiss the next lava spurt fell down, clearing the way and I jumped, clearing the distance a little more shakily this time. Moving quickly I jumped the last edge, landing on the other side of the pool of lava. Turning I saw Link quickly following me. Jumping across the distance he made it look easy.

As he jumped the last distance the rock gave way beneath his foot. I watched as he nearly missed the edge, landing with one foot hovering above the lava. I rushed forward as I saw him pin wheeling his arms to maintain balance, grabbing his belt I threw myself backwards and pulled him to safety.

"Thanks," he said, looking back at the lava with revulsion.

I nodded and started walking, wiping sweat from my brow as I did. Turning around I noticed that the only way to continue was a large, rusted red-iron frame leading down the path. The entrance was blocked by large boards.

"Stand back," Link said, leveling his sword with the barrier. Gathering his breath he leapt forward and struck at them in a downward strike. His sword melted through two of the boards before getting stuck in the third, wrenching it out he began hacking at them, splinters flying everywhere. About a minute later and the opening was large enough for him to get through.

As I walked through after Link I noticed the large column of fire that was blocking the area ahead of us. Walking around a grated corner I noticed the large rectangular lever in the floor.

"Hey Link," I called out, causing the green tuniced Hylian to turn, "I think we can stop the fire with that." I indicated the panel.

"Let me check," He said, he walked around the corner, carefully stepping past the flame. I watching in exasperation as he began pushing futilely on it, sweat pouring down his face.

"Stand on it dummy!" I exclaimed. Link spared me a withering glance before standing up and stepping on it. Looking back he fixed me with a look that seemed to say, 'What now kid genius.' I face palmed before hurriedly whipping my now sweat covered hand on my shirt.

"The iron boots!" I exclaimed, exasperatedly.

Link flushed with embarrassment for a second before tapping his heels together, pushing down on the large contraption and causing the fire to hiss to a stop. A large ticking noise started up. Link seemed to realize what it indicated.

"Hurry, before the fire starts up again." He said, running down the rickety framework with me hot on his heels. The chinking sound of boots on metal faded into the clomp of boots on dirt as we ran onto the hard packed soil on the other side.

Link turned in a slow circle, scoping out the room. "This way," he said, walking down the sloping path to a concealed ladder. He indicated that I go first so I complied and pulled myself up the warm wood, quickly coming to the top and shaking my hands to cool them. I was slightly amazed the wood wasn't on fire considering the temperature it was at.

Link quickly followed me up, but by the time he was there I was already continuing on. Memories of the game were coming back quicker. I hoped over a large drop between a pillar and the top of the cage before leaping again onto the relative safety of a ledge on the opposite wall. I looked down my left and saw another flaming barrier.

A thump sounded behind me as Link landed as well.

"This way," I said, indicating the opposite direction of the fire. I saw a thin ledge leading to another platform and was about to cross it when a hand suddenly snagged the back of my shirt, pulling me back.

"Hey, what gives," I called out angrily as Link yanked me to his side.

"Quiet," He said, looking at me, "Look up there," he pointed to a place a little past the ledge where, on the ceiling, were several fire slug things. "You have to be more careful, you can't just run around willy nilly, you could get hurt. Stay here; I'll go check it out."

I opened my mouth to protest but Link was already gone. He leapt over a gap, completely ignoring the small ledge. Landing he reached into his pack and pulled out a wooden sling shot. Standing up strait he took aim and released a projectile at one of the slugs.

The force of the contact propelled the beast into another, knocking them both off the ceiling and into the lava below. Three shots later and all the enemies were gone.

Link leapt over the remaining gap and began to study what was on the platform, he looked up and gestured for me to move towards the fire. I looked nervously towards the flames and back, but Link was already looking down again. Making up my mind I began walking towards it, carefully keeping well away from the edge that dropped off into the lava.

A rumbling suddenly shook the place and chips of stone fell from the ceiling. I looked down at the shaking ground and steadied myself. Suddenly a ticking noise began to emanate from in front of me, looking up I saw the flames had gone out.

"Hurry, run!" came Link's voice from behind me. I leapt forwards into a sprint, speeding past the soot blackened walls and onto the walk way. The metal echoed underneath my feet as the ticking picked up tempo and I pushed myself faster.

A green blur flew past me and suddenly I wasn't on the ground any longer, but whistling through the air. The ticking reached a new crescendo and Link dived around a corner, dragging me with him as a tongue of flame lanced out of the pipe behind us.

"Too…close," I panted, staring at the flame with wide eyes. Link picked me up, setting me back on my feet before fixing me with one of his trademark smiles.

"That was fun, the adrenaline is really something isn't it?" he asked cheerfully. I sweat dropped* at that and watched as he turned to continue on. We walked off of the iron struts and onto ground again, coming to a ledge with several crates stacked on its side.

I monotonously walked over to the crated and began to lower myself off when I heard a grunt of exertion. Looking up I saw that Link had jumped from the ledge and onto a large, metal lever coming out of the wall. He regained his balance before looking around thoughtfully. I watched for a second before continuing to lower myself off the crates. '_Crazy, hyper athletic hero's. They do too much jumping.'_ I thought to myself.

As if in response to my thought I heard a clanging sound and looked up to see Link jumping up and down on the lever, trying to move it. After five of six jumps he stopped and scratched his head before a look of realization crossed his face. He clicked his heels together and, with a moan that only old metal can make, the lever sunk to the ground.

A rumbling sound emanated from a large metal wall that I hadn't noticed before. With sparks flying from the tracks on the floor, it slid open, revealing a wall of dirt with what looked to be a circle carved into the middle.

I looked at Link for a second, then at the door, then back to Link. '_I really am out of it,'_ I thought to myself, '_How didn't I notice that before?!'_ I saw Link start towards the wall and hurriedly jumped off of the last crate and ran up to his side. Nearing to wall I realized that the circle was not a carving in the wall, but and actual slab of stone that had been fitted into it, it reminded my vaguely of a door.

We walked up to it and Link went forward and pushed it… then the oddest thing happened. Instead of him pushing futilely against a large slab of stone, a loud rumbling sound emanated from it and it rolled to the side, a second one behind it vanishing similarly but to the opposite side.

"Whoah," I stated.

"What?" Link asked, looking at me strangely.

"Nothing, let's go," I replied. Walking forward I went through the doorway and out into a large cavern, the molten rock from before was still around but covering less of the area, filling up not much more than half the room. A large, circular, steel girder hovered above the lava in the center of the room, its large central pillar disappearing into the lava.

"Hurry," came Link's voice as he began to walk along a stone sidewalk, leading to what looked like another cave entrance.

"I'm coming, geeze…" I grumbled to myself, speeding into a jog to keep pace with Link's long strides.

A skip, hop, and jump later found us in front of the door, staring at the large and menacing lock that sealed it.

"Dang, we need a key," Link said. Turning to look at me he asked, "Got any ideas?" I shrugged my shoulders and shook my head, heck if I could remember every key location in the game… even my memory wasn't that incredible.

"We should probably head back and ch-," I was cut off when I noticed a slinking shadow sliding over me. A chill ran up my spine as I slowly looked up.

A scream caught in my throat as I noticed something falling towards me at great speed, leaving no time to react. With the force of a train the object slammed into my shoulder, pulling me down and under it. Pain split through my head as it crashed into the ground and my vision swam.

Link cried out in surprise from somewhere near me and the dark shape darted off of me, crashing into him and knocking him away. I shakily pushed up from the ground, reaching for my dagger as I got into sitting position. Scanning for the enemy I was stopped short by what I saw, a large, bluish black _hand_ scuttling towards me on its fingers.

My weapon wasn't even halfway out of its sheath when it reached me, latching onto my body and pinning my arms to my side. The breath hissed from my lips as its grip tightened, squeezing the air from my lungs and pressing my ribs in an uncomfortable direction.

With a jerk I was pulled backwards, the hand dragging me into a dark portal on the ground. Suddenly we were free falling, the hand seemed to be pulsing in a general direction but I could feel the space flying past us.

"Let…Go!" I gritted out as I managed to release one arm, reaching over I gripped the fraying hilt of my dagger and yanked it out.

"Gwrahh!" I cried as I plunged the blade into the flesh of the creature. A pained hiss quickly turned into a squeal of agony as the hand started convulsing, disintegrating from the point of contact.

Suddenly, I was free, and the blade no longer stuck in the hand. The breath was knocked out of me for the second time in the past minute as my decent stopped abruptly, quickly changing directions and I was suddenly sliding to the side towards a bright light.

Shooting out of the portal I rolled a couple feet before coming to a stop, lying there, stunned for a second before life caught up with me and I realized I had to breathe. Coughing I dragged in air, clutching at my chest as I tried to regain composure. Breathing deeply I slowly rolled onto my back, staring in a daze at the rocky ceiling.

I suddenly noticed wheezing that was not my own coming from the side of me. With a start, I spun onto my side, pushing myself into a crouch facing the wheezing. Coming to an abrupt halt I stared at the hunched form of the most shriveled, decrepit, Goron I had ever seen.

He stared back at me, clutching his chest as he inhaled and exhaled deeply. I just stared at him dumbly, sitting back on the ground as I too continued to try and regain my breath.

As the Goron finally regained his breath a smile split across his shriveled, stony face, followed shortly by booming laughter that caused me to wince.

"Bwaahahah! You gave me quite the scare little one, popping up out of nowhere like that!" the Goron continued to chuckle to himself as he levered himself up on his cane and dusted himself off. He walked over and grabbed my shoulder, showing surprising strength he hoisted me onto my feet so was were now staring at each other at eye level.

"But if that's the best the young'un's can come up with to scare me they've got another thing coming!" the Goron continued to rant in a good mannered fashion about revenge, and 'The pranks in my day.' As soon as I was able to form coherent thought I decided to ask the obvious question.

"Who are you?" my voice came out sounding pathetically meek.

The Goron turned and fixed me with a searching look before his twinkling eyes locked on me, "Why, my name is Gor-Ebizo."

(LINE BREAK)

Far away in a dank cavernous room a black portal popped into existence, spewing out the dusty remains of a creature of shadow. A soft sigh echoed from the large, stone throne dominating the center of the room. The large man sitting in it clenched his fist in an irritated fashion.

"Another failure," he said darkly, deep voice echoing off the walls. He fixed the form kneeling by his throne with a cold scowl. "Very well, you have my permission to go," he said to the cloaked figure.

"Yes mi' lord," came the soft voice from the figure. The figure leaned back, hood falling off and revealing a shock of blonde hair and two blood red eyes. Although a mask covered the bottom part of its face a menacing grin cracked across the expanse, a grin which would have made anyone who saw it shudder. The figure intoned in a deceptively light voice, "I shall not fail."

It stood up quickly, cloak twirling around it as it vanished on the spot, leaving the large figure brooding on his throne.

* * *

***- This is for those not commonly acquainted with manga or anime. The sweat drop is a sign of disbelief/surprise, usually in to case of someone doing something outrageously unexpected and/or stupid. I couldn't think of another adjective to put in place of it, so while it doesn't have the same effect as a visual one it at least expresses the emotion. So, no, it was not a typo.**

**Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! Hopefully the next chapter will come out in a more timely fashion. Well, drop a review I'd love to hear what you guys thought!**

**Guppy out.**


	7. Adventure 6: Volcanic Expedition Part 2

Hey everybody! Guess who's back?! First of all, I'd like to appologize for the absolute crap that was the previous chapter; I didn't really review that one so eventually I'll go back and fix it... eventually.

Anyways, I'll spare you the details of my delayed posting, suffice it to say that I reveiwed and scrapped the chapter, then reveiwed and scrapped it again, and again. I hope you all feel the love I put into this one, because it was not easy working through. Well, go ahead and read and tell me what you think.

Enjoy if you will, tolerate if you won't.

* * *

Adventure 6: Volcanic Expedition Part 2

I huffed tiredly as I stumbled down the hot corridor, staying well away from the sizzling stone walls. I could practically feel the water evaporating from my cells, sending drop of sweat after drop of sweat coursing down my face. Smearing it across my forehead with my already soaked sleeve, I glared around me, squinting through the heat waves in my quest to find the door. I tenderly massaged my singed butt, and silently cursed the maker of the retarded statues that guarded the way into Gor-Ebizo's chamber, the stupid things had nearly melted a hole straight through me in their surprise attack.

Reaching the end of the hallway I looked at the large structure that blocked the exit.

"Weird," I muttered to myself, "This door is different than the others…" The door in question was a large red slab of stone with strange engravings in it; a large line bisected two and a half circles, with the half circle the lowest and branching off into a series of other lines. Shrugging I stepped forward and pushed…and kept pushing…and pushing…

"Gah! What the heck stupid door, open!" I shouted before plowing into the door with as much force as I could muster. I was rewarded with the door tilting slightly forwards but nothing more. "Stupid, idiotic, re—OW!" I exclaimed, clutching my foot after making the stupid decision to _kick_ the large slab of rock.

I sat down and huffed, resting my chin on my hand as I glared at the stone, sweating silently. '_Wait, maybe I can use the key,'_ I thought suddenly, '_Yeah, that could work!'_ I stood up quickly and pulled out the large, cylindrical, puzzle like object that the elder Goron had given me. Reaching out carefully I placed one end of the engraved cylinder into the center circle of the door, took a step back, and then…

'Clunk,' the cylinder fell to the ground and bounced a few times.

"… stupid good for nuthin piece of scrap metal," I grumbled to myself as I reached down to pick up the shard of key. "It doesn't even open doors!" Now I knew perfectly well that it was only one third of a key and was meant to open a completely different lock but at the moment I was quite irritable and the useless shard made a good target for my anger… it couldn't argue back.

Tilting my head back I pinched my nose in annoyance, closed my eyes and breathed deeply. Opening my eyes I once again scanned over the door, found absolutely nothing else useful, and promptly muttered some choice words that would make any parent worth their butter gasp.

Frustration vented I came upon an idea… I could use that! "Yes," I whispered to myself, "_That_ just might work…" Fishing into my pouch I located the '_that'_ in question and pulled it out. Running my hand along the smooth surface I chuckled silently to myself, reminiscing about how I had come by it.

(LINE BREAK)

_I glared around the hot room from my spot on the floor, fanning the neck of my shirt in a desperate attempt to ward off the omnipresent heat that was trying to bake me._

_ "Where is he?" I groaned to myself as I felt another wave of heat wash over me. Gor-Ebizo had disappeared a short while ago, saying that he was going to retrieve the key shard that Link and I needed to find the Patriarch. _

_ "Back in two minutes my tiny tooshy," I grumbled as I wiped another drop of sweat away from my face. I had to have been at least an hour… maybe two… A quick glance at a wall mounted clock showed 5 minutes had elapsed._

_ "Gahhh!" I cried in protest as I waved my fist at the ceiling in annoyance. Letting it drop back to my side as I wiped off more sweat. 'What is up with this heat,' I thought to myself, 'I swear, it's getting worse.'_

_ Rolling over I felt something poke into my ribs, a very hot something. "Gwahh!" I yelped as I rolled away quickly, clutching my side as I shifted onto my knees._

_ "What the heck was that?" I exclaimed to myself, tenderly rubbing the throbbing area around my ribs. Slowly crawling forwards a glint of metal caught my eye. Gingerly, I pushed away the dust and chips of rock from the area, revealing a metal ring sticking up from the ground. It was sealed to the ground seamlessly, almost appearing to be made of the same rock as its anchor._

_ 'It looks like a handle,' I thought to myself. '…Dink!' a little light bulb went off in my head. Reaching down I rolled up the hem of my shirt around my hand, making sure there would be a good two inches of material between my skin and the scalding metal._

_ Reaching down I grasped the handle, wincing as the heat still managed to sting through the fabric. Planting my feet I yanked on it as hard as I could, straining my muscles against the unbudging handle. After two seconds sweat began to bead on my forehead as nothing happened. After two more seconds I was about ready to give up, then, with a grating sound it began to lift. Doubling my efforts I yanked harder, slowly pulling the slab from the ground until, with a thunk, it popped out and landed heavily on the floor next to the hole._

_ Panting from the exertion, I studied the hidden alcove. Square in shape it was about three by ten inches long. Getting closer I looked down the hole and found a rather unremarkable blue box. Reaching down I struggled for a minute as I pulled it from its tight confines and back up out of the hole._

_ Lifting it up I studied the box, then, making sure I had done it right, I check it again. The thing was an anomaly, it seemed seamless, not a single line or divot or anything to indicate it was more than a blue rectangle. Shaking it I was rewarded with a rattle as something inside it moved. Carefully inspecting the box I eventually found a small bump in one of its sides; pressing it, a sharp clicking noise resonated out, shortly followed by the top half of it popping up._

_ Removing the lid I studied the curious object inside of it. A thin stick of what appeared to be silver occupied the space; covered in odd shifting runes it let of a low red glow. Picking it up I felt my skin tingle as something rushed through me, causing me to drop it in alarm. It hit the floor with a clang, a red spark popping out of the tip; the spark quickly grew in size, hovering in the air as it sizzled and crackled. Then, as suddenly as it had come, it flashed out of existence, a small piece of paper fluttering down to the ground._

_ I stared dumbly at it for a second before several thoughts flashed through my head, mostly things like 'magic' 'cool!' and 'I wanna touch!' Reaching out I carefully nudged the paper with my finger before yanking my hand back and covering my face with my arms. After three seconds with no explosion I reached out again and quickly snatched up the note. _

_ Big, bold letters marked the top of the page, 'The beginners guide to using a Flame Rod,' it stated. Picking up again it began, 'Step One: Point flame rod at object you want to melt. Step Two: Place thumb on top of the red rune. Step three: Recite the incantation, Flare estare intu unum,… or for those who are too lazy to enjoy the use of complex spells, just yell Fire!'_

_ I read the last line again to make sure I had read it right. 'Weird instruction manual,' I thought, 'Hmm, it says it melts things…' A slightly maniacal gleam came over my eyes as my inner pyro struggled for freedom. Snapping my head up I locked onto the rod, snatching from the ground as I quickly scanned for something to test it on. _

_ A clinking sound suddenly echoed from the corridor Gor Ebizo had gone down, startling me and nearly causing the rod to drop again. Glancing around I panicked slightly; I highly doubted that this rod was supposed to be found considering how well it was hidden._

_ I quickly stuffed it into my bag, shoving the paper in as well. I jumped over to the cover slab and grabbed its edges, shoving the heavy stone across the floor until it dropped back into place with a crash. Dropping down on top of it I spun around just in time as Gor-Ebizo walked into the room._

_ "I have it," he announced merrily. I gave a nervous grimace in return as he walked towards me with a small wrapped package in hand. "Here young un," he said, "Give this to your friend and wish him my luck."_

_ "Thankyouverymuch!" I shouted out loudly before clamping my hands over my mouth, "Sorry," I tried again after giving my nerves a second to calm down, "What I meant to say was thank you."_

_ Gor Ebizo stared at me for a second before smiling again, "Well, no matter young un, take this and be on your way."_

_ I nodded quickly before stuffing the key into my pocket and leaping towards the door with a hastily shouted "Bye!" _

_ A sort of giddy joy coursed through me as I walked out of the entrance, coursing through me at the thought of using my new found toy. So consumed with thoughts of how I was going to use it that I didn't notice the moving statues behind me… well, until they singed my butt._

(LINE BREAK)

I rubbed my butt against a phantom pain as I remembered that moment, '_Maybe I should go back and melt down those statues first,'_ I debated internally, '_… Nah, too much trouble.'_

Pointing the rod in front of me I glared at the solid red rock door before placing my finger on the stationary red rune near the back of the wand.

"FIRE!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. A concussive roar of heat zapped out from the tip of the wand, the force of it propelling my entire body back as I struggled to hold onto the instrument. An intense wave of heat rolled over me as I landed on my back, a cloud of black quickly following.

I started hacking as the smoke filled my lungs, coating my tongue with a gross sooty substance that irritated my entire throat.

"…That," I managed to get out between coughs, "Was –hack- Awesome!" Another hacking fit overcame me and forced me to stop talking. After a few seconds I stood up and looked at the door. The entire red stone along with much of the wall and part of the ceiling had been coated with soot, scorched to the point where they all nearly blended in with each other.

I smiled to myself as I saw that it didn't work… Time for another blast!

Lining up the rod with the door again and pressed the red rune, "FIRE!" I shouted, quickly covering my face. … … After a few second of no explosion I looked up to see a small piece of paper attached to the tip of the rod. I snatched it off and quickly flipped it over to find the same hasty scrawl on it as was on the instruction manual.

'Greetings User!' it declared, 'The flame rod has a ten minute recharge rate so please do not attempt to use it again until the time has elapsed, otherwise something… unpleasant… could happen.'

I stared at the note in confusion, a little weirded out by how strangely it was written, "Creepy," I muttered to myself, "It's like this thing came from a cheap gag store… You'd think that the scribe for age old magical artifacts would have nicer handwriting."

Poof! Suddenly a puff of smoke was released from the wand again and another piece of paper appeared. Grabbing it I read,

'Well, if you don't like the way I write then just go ahead and give the wand another try… I dare you!'

"What the heck?" I muttered, something was seriously wrong with this whole scenario. Another poof was quickly followed by another note.

'Just use the dang rod already,' it read.

"Umm, I think I'm good…" I said uncertainly, getting ready to set the rod down and make a run for it.

Another poof, 'What? Are you scared? Chicken, Bwawk, bwawk!' I felt a vein in my head twitch at the insult.

"I'm not a chicken!" I shouted at the debatably inanimate object, "I'll show you!" and in a moment of stupidity I did just that.

"FIRE!" I shouted.

An ominous rumble built up as the rod began to vibrate, trembling in my hand as it seemed to gather energy. I held it nervously as the rumbling continued before-

PWWWWTTTTT!

A huge ball of green gas spouted from the wand, quickly followed by one of the most disgusting sounds I had ever heard. I then made the mistake of breathing in.

"Holy crap!" I shouted as I started gagging, the horrible odor that put anything I had previously smelt to shame. I dropped the rod as I clutched at my nose and tried to rip the smell out of it. Violently swinging my other hand I attempted to clear the air away from me, gagging as more of the stench made it past my hand. "Uugh, I can taste it!" I groaned. Another poofing noise brought my attention back to the wand as another piece of paper exuded from the tip.

Making sure my hand was clamped firmly around my nose I reached down and grabbed the paper, shaking it slightly to clear off the green fumes wafting from it,

'Hahhah! Looser, I can't believe you fell for that!' the note mocked, 'Man, it's nice to finally have someone as gullible as you! I mean-' A loud ripping sound rent through the room as I violently tore up note, flinging pieces across the floor in mindless rage.

Breathing deeply I glared at the wand, my little fit seemed to have given the smell time to dissipate as the green fog was now gone. Snatching it up I stuffed it in my back pocket.

'_I swear,'_ I thought to myself, '_If I ever find a way to get into that rod then whoever is writing those notes is going down!'_

A noise suddenly startled me out of my reverie, causing me to jump as I looked for the source. My eyes quickly locked onto the culprit, a small glass ball was rolling across the ground towards me, seemingly of its own power. I scanned the room quickly but found no one, and the only door was on the opposite side the ball came from.

Squinting in confusion I walked over to the still moving ball and picked it up, inspecting it slowly. It was semi translucent and had an odd white light pulsating in the center. Turning it over in my hands I nearly dropped it as I felt a pulse of energy leave it and travel up my arms.

Looking at it closer I saw that it was pulsing ever so slightly, giving off some sort of power in waves. I looked around again to see if I could find where it had come from but nothing changed. Another pulse brought my attention back to the orb.

Warmth flowed through my body and I felt myself resonate in pleasure as the lovely energy coursed through me; an odd combination of warmth and safety made it feel like I was being embraced in a phantasmal hug.

Another pulse followed by more warmth caused me to moan slightly. My hands were trembling as I brought the orb in, hugging it to my chest to see if the effect would be more powerful. Another pulse, stronger than any of the previous ones coursed through me, causing me to shudder violently from the feeling; then, suddenly, everything changed.

The breath was snatched away from me as something slammed into my core, a huge presence that seemed to be trying to smother me from the inside. It felt like branding irons were being pushed into my brain as the energy began to blanket my senses, replacing my vision with red and causing my muscles to seize up on themselves.

I crashed to the floor in a pained gasp, agony shooting through me as I attempted to escape the energy. Brandishing my mental power I pushed forward with all my might, attempting to force the invading presence away, but it was too powerful.

It seemed to laugh at my feeble attempts as it surrounded my consciousness, pushing in on it and sending wave after wave of scalding anguish through me.

"S-s—top," I gasped out as the pain worsened, my nails digging into the hardened ball as they attempted curl in on themselves. I tried opening my eyes but all I could see was red; spiraling and flowing as it seemed to suck the life out of me. Slowly, the foreign power began to push downwards, filling up the rest of my body while keeping a firm grasp on my psyche.

Martialing what was left of my strength I attempted to force the orb away, pushing with all my might I felt my arms move slightly and a new sense of hope coursed through me. Pushing harder I forced it farther away, and farther, until…

With a snap my arms caved in, the invading force took over them and pulled the orb back with so much power that I felt something in my chest snap upon impact. Pain lanced through me again, quickly followed by something even worse.

_'N…no,'_ the fear laden thought spiked through me as the energies painful intrusion continued, spinning around inside of my head and making coherent thought nearly impossible. My breath came in painful gasps as I felt my lungs constrict, all my muscles coiling in mutiny as they attempted to obey two different orders. My lungs tightened again, making breathing even harder.

'_I'm going to die…'_ I realized, '_I'm gonna die, I'm gonnadie, I'mgonnadie!" _I felt true and horrible terror course through me as the pain worsened, clouding all my senses and leaving only anguish in its place.

"H-he-help…" I gasped in agony, the words barely making it past my lips. In a desperate last stand, I pushed with all my might against the bonds that bound me, struggling for everything I was worth as I torqued my body into a spasming jig, trying to dislodge to orb. Suddenly something slammed into my mindscape, something vast and even more powerful than the energy from the orb. I felt it press down on me, forcing the sickening energy into a smaller and smaller area, preventing it from wreaking havoc on my body as it soothed my overtaxed mind.

My struggling weakened as I felt the pain begin to dissipate, and sounds began filtering into my ears.

I could vaguely make out shouting, whoever it was, the owner of voice sounded distressed. Suddenly, I felt something wrap around my body and latch onto my quivering arms, forcing my hands away from my chest; at the same time I felt a final burst of effort from the foreign presence as it shot the orbs energy back at it source. There was a sickening second of resistance as my arms locked out at their apex, straining as my fingers involuntarily clutched at the orb. Then it was gone, the orb separated from my hands and I felt myself get yanked in the opposite direction.

A concussive blast rocketed through the air, flinging me and whatever had grabbed me across the room. I was stunned as I was carried along the shock wave, unable to form coherent thought as I felt something tighten around me. Then I slammed into something… hard.

Pain rocketed through me, stealing my breath and causing my neck to flip back at a horrible angle, then, everything was black.

(LINE BREAK)

"—ak—p-," A faint voice slowly intruded upon my slumber. "Wa—up—ow!" I could vaguely sense urgency in the voice but my groggy mind couldn't focus. An acrid stench wafted past my nostrils, it reminded me of burning rubber and my nose twitched in irritation.

"Wake up!" the third time caused me to jolt, the loud and urgent voice shocking me from my stupor. My eyes snapped open as I attempted to rise, then promptly crashed back into the floor with a pained gasp.

"Wake up, wake up, wake up!" the distressed voice continued, raising and lowering in pitch as the speaker seemed to struggle internally with something. Slowly opening my eyes I looked up into a black abyss… no, it was a ceiling made of red rock, but it had been scorched so thoroughly that it had turned black.

Shifting my head slowly I looked towards the sound, closing my eyes again as another wave of pain assaulted me. I felt something well up in the back of my throat; spilling onto my tongue and covering it with a vile, coppery tasting substance. Gagging I attempted to spit it out, only managing to roll some out of the corner of my mouth.

Cracking open my eyes I vaguely noticed a small stream of red slowly seeping away from me; the puddle of crimson was beautifully distracting, seeming to glimmer in the light of the small fires that raged around the room. The distressed cries increased in intensity and caught hold of my attention once more, pulling my eyes away from the mesmerizing red liquid. Slowly focusing my vision up it took me a second to make sense of what I saw.

A rock… no, a man, horribly burnt… was lying across from me, spread eagle and unmoving with empty eyes staring up at the ceiling. A small, black form hunched over it, gripping its collar and shaking it. With a start I realize it was Midna. A single glimmering tear coursed down her cheek, falling onto the still smoking form with a sizzle as she muttered the same phrase over and over like a mantra.

"Wake up… wake up…" Each time it came more delayed and the voice seemed more empty, almost as if all the energy was being drained from the normal hyper-active Twili.

"…na," I tried to force out, pain searing my throat as the name came out as more of a raspy grunt then an actual word, "M…id…na…" I tried again, there was a delay between each syllable but as a whole it was a little louder. There was no response from the muttering figure outside of a pained moan.

A third attempt evolved into a fit of hacking as I felt a liquid rise up my throat and spew out of my mouth in a coppery, clotted mess. My vision went blurry and I realize with a start that I was coughing up blood.

'_Internal injury.'_ The though came to me, but for some reason I couldn't bring myself to care, I couldn't help but feel that I was missing something important.

"My, my, you're just like a cockroach aren't you?" A soft , and menacing voice intruded upon my thoughts. Midna's murmuring voice trailed off into silence as footsteps echoed towards us; I tried to turn my head but couldn't find the strength, my neck wouldn't obey my commands. "Surviving that trap thanks to your little green friend, but, oh well, you're about dead anyways, I'll just finish the job."

I felt the presence move closer and a foot dropped down in front of me. Slamming into the blood soaked ground with a wet thud, the black, studded leather boot shifted in front of my face, blocking my view of the rest of the room.

"What a pitiful sight… I expected more." The voice said.

"You…" Midna's voice drifted out from behind the boot. The owner of the boot shifted their weight to look at the imp.

"Huh, you survived too? Well it doesn't matter, you are no threat to my masters plans." The voice said cruelly.

"You… you _monster_," The pure venom contained in that last word stunned me. "You killed him!" Midna howled, the hackles rising on the back of my neck at the animalistic quality the shout possessed. I heard a sound like a thunder clap and suddenly the boot in front of me was gone, just as a series of crashes began to echo in the back ground. My eyes locked on to the smoking husk in front of me and facts seemed to snap into place.

Midna's words bounced around in my head, '_You killed him… You killed him,'_ Over and over they repeated themselves and I felt my body grow cold as I took in more detail from the form in front of me, unable to tear my eyes away from the horrible sight. The hair was singed and covered in soot, but here and their flashes of blonde shone through. '_Surviving that trap thanks to your little green friend,'_ the owner of the boots voice came back to me… green.

"No," the word escaped my destroyed throat as a hoarse whisper. It couldn't be true, it was _impossible_. Exercising energy I didn't know I had I forced myself to roll over, the pain pushed to the back of my mind as I felt tendons tear and snap in protest. I vaguely noticed that I couldn't feel one arm, or anything below my waist, but that problem seemed far away as I used my one remaining limb to claw my way forward, leaving bloody furrows in the soot stained ground.

The few feet that separated us seemed like miles, I coughed up more and more blood as I slowly inched across the distance. After what felt like an eternity I collapsed next to him, pulling myself next to his face where I could see his one, clouded blue eye, staring up into the blackened ceiling.

"Link…" the word contained an unquantifiable amount of pain and anguish, nothing my destroyed body could generate could compare with the heart rending feeling that tore through me. I hadn't known him long, but Link had wormed his way deep into my heart, he was more than a simple means to find my way home, he was more than a friend, he was practically family.

A loud shattering sound interrupted my mourning and unsteadily I looked up through tear blurred eyes to where a crater had been formed in the ground behind Link. I saw a single, twitching black leg sticking out from the hole.

"Pesky imp," came the woman's disdain filled voice, "Did you really think such pitiful magic could harm me? I am the right hand of our new lord, I am the instrument through which his plans will come to fruition, I am Sheik!" A short bark of laughter followed the proclamation.

The cruel mockery in the voice caused something in me to snap, cold rage began flowing into me, my entire body began shaking as I felt the pain that coursed through me steadily dissipated. The black tri-force flared up, drawing power from the darkness around us as it filled my body with sickening energy; energy that only helped to darken my mood and fuel the rage.

"**No pit…"** I began, rage clouding my thoughts as I felt the dark power coursing through me; amplifying my voice and causing it to drop several octaves, **"No crevice, no trench, no chasm in hell, is deep enough to hide your malignant stench."** I could feel the fury forming into something more powerful, condensing in my chest and literally lifting me off the ground. **"No matter where you hide,"** My voice trembled slightly with the powerful emotion that the words carried, **"No matter who you cower behind,"** The unsteady tone left my voice as I hardened it with undiluted malice, **"I will find you. This. I. Swear!" **Shouting the final word I felt something burst, and then I was filled with energy; bones snapped back into place as flesh re-knit and tendons fused into their rightful positions. I felt life coursing through me as it buoyed me up, flashing down my limbs and reconnecting severed nerves, until, with a final crunch, my spinal column realigned itself.

Hot rage coursed through me as the energy began to lower in intensity, slowly setting me back on the ground. As I felt my feet gently touch the floor my eyes snapped open, fixing onto the one object that mattered right now, the one I would not fail to destroy.

"Impossible…" Sheik let off a startled gasp as I stared directly into her eyes, cutting past the darkness of the cowl and forever memorizing the features that I would rend apart. Two red eyes stared out from behind a mask as shock coursed across her face.

I felt a malicious grin split my face as my vision began to turn red, the lust for blood slowly overcoming my senses.

(LINE BREAK)

(Midna's POV)

Midna groaned as she clawed her way back into consciousness, pushing against the blackness that attempted to re-engulf her. Her ears rung and her head spun from the impact but she pushed through it. Slowly she struggled to her knees, looking around blearily as her eyes tried to focus on her surroundings.

The ringing in her ears slowly faded, just in time for her to catch the tail end of someone's speech.

**"I will find you. This. I. Swear!"**

'_Zant!'_ at the thought, Midna exploded into action, twisting around to face the new threat… and was promptly dropped to her knees by the shockwave of energy that burst past her.

Squinting, she saw the brief outline of Skyler's form before the light became too bright to look at. '_No,_' she thought, '_Not Skyler to!_' She didn't know why, but the thought of someone else, specifically the small child, dying brought a deep pain into her chest. Staggering to her feet she prepared to rush forward to the little ones rescue when the light faded and she stopped cold.

In Skyler's place stood someone new, nearly as tall as Link with a shock of messy blonde hair that framed a gaunt face. That wasn't the thing that caused Midna to pause though; he radiated a dark aura, something that made the imp think of damp caves, death, and in particularly bad way, Zant; but deep inside was the smothered aura of Skyler. With nails tapered into sharp points and long, crisscrossing symbols wandering down his arm; his skin was an odd combination of black and white patterns and underneath his shaggy bangs were two blood red eyes.

"Impossible," the voice shocked Midna from her stupor and she began to tremble. The man radiated pure killing intent and fear slowly clouded the Twilight Princesses mind. Scuttling back as fast as she could Midna attempted to put distance between her and the new threat. With a soft bump, Midna came to a halt against something, quickly looking around her shoulder her breath caught in her throat.

The crisp form her back was pressed against brought back a flash of memories and emotions, emotions that she usually had complete control over. The fear faded as something else overcame her mind… a hunger, no, a need; a desperate need for revenge.

The uncontrollable shaking came back, this time for a completely different reason. Midna rose steadily to her feet. Pushing up her stone crown she fixed her one eye on the foe who had done this, this so called _Sheik_.

"GWAAHHHHH!" the rage filled shriek tore from Midna's throat as she charged her enemy, tearing past the stoic form that was once Skyler. The shout seemed to shock the shiekah from her stupor and she quickly turned to face the raging imp. Seconds before the two would impact a much more terrifying sound rose from behind them.

**"GAAWOOOHHHHH!"** the sound echoed off the walls, causing them to vibrate as Skyler tore into motion. One second he was across the room and the next he was behind the woman in black. Sensing something she attempted to turn but by then it was too late; a kick tore into the sheikah's side, causing her to collapse over the limb as she was tossed into the air.

Midna watched in abject fascination as the beast that was once Skyler tore into his foe. Each hit was strong enough to send the woman flying bodily though the air, spinning towards one of the walls. But each time right before impact, Skyler would appear to punt her away.

Sheik knew things were going bad, if this kept up she would be too injured to fight. Clasping her hands together, her breath was forced out once again as her ribs groaned under another destructive punch, but pushing past the pain she focused her energies. Turning she saw the monster she was sent to kill pop into existence; and the sheikah chose then to unleash her deadly counter.

With a flash of light, Skyler was sent careening into the wall, the force of the impact causing cracks to web their way up the wall and ceiling. Rolling quickly to her feet the sheikah stumble slightly as the damage caught up to her, but through force of will managed to stay on her feet. Pulling out several blades from a pouch on her leg she prepared to charge when something crashed into her side, sending her tumbling across the floor.

Skidding across the ground, Sheik slowed her momentum and rolled to her feet again, turning just in time to see a giant orange fist come crashing towards her.

Cursing, Sheik made a quick, one handed motion and erected a shimmering barrier in front of her. Midna's fist crashed into it with so much force that the translucent barrier dented inwards before finally buckling under the force, but the delay was all Sheik needed to get out of range of the punch.

Jumping over the extended punch, Sheik landed at the imp's side, lashing out with a quick kick to the gut that sent the small fighter careening away.

Danger senses firing, Sheik threw herself forward, barely avoiding the kick that shattered the stone were she had just been standing. Rolling up quickly she jumped to the side again to avoid the follow up punch. Rising to her feet, Sheik faced her new enemy, locking eyes with him as he charged again.

This time she tried something new, getting up close to the boy she dodged under his swings, bending left, right, and backwards, she could sometimes feel the fists pass much closer to her face then she would have liked. She could tell the boy had skill, but blind rage made a mess of it, swinging wildly like that may beat lesser foes but for someone on Sheiks level, more than pure power was needed.

Jumping over a low kick, Sheik patiently bided her time waiting for the opportunity to strike and… there! An over extended punch left his face wide open.

Lashing out with a kick, Sheik tore into Skyler and sent him stumbling back, dropping low she followed up with rapid punched to his torso and finished with a leg sweep.

Hands blurring she formed rapid signs as she gathered her energy, finishing she cocked back her fist and threw it at the downed form in front of her.

Midna stared in horror as she watched in what seemed to be slow motion, Sheiks fist fall towards Skyler.

With a sound like thunder a cloud of crushed rock rose into the air, the shockwave of the punch causing the ground to tremble. Midna gaped at it, there was no way anyone could have survive that, she had seen the energy stored up in the sheikah's fist and there was enough there to level a stone building.

Midna watched with bated breath as the cloud slowly dissipated. In the center a shadowy form began to emerge, steadily taking shape until what was inside was revealed. Skyler's arm stuck out of a large, man sized crater, holding Sheiks fist in its palm, smoke still rising from where he had stopped the punch.

Midna let out a relieved breath she didn't know she had been holding but her celebration was quickly cut short. Sheik reached behind her and yanked out something that glinted in the meager light cast by the lava, raising it high in the air as she prepared to plunge it into Skyler's chest. Midna burst into motion, charging with as much speed as she could muster, but she knew she wouldn't make it in time.

The blade plunged down, closer and closer until… Skyler suddenly vanished, the blade passing harmlessly through thin air and into the ground. Sheik let out a startled yelp as she dropped into the hole Skyler had previously occupied.

Midna came to a halt as she saw the boy appear again, this time above the sheikah. He reached down and grabbed the girl by the back of the neck, lifting her into the air with her feet hovering centimeters off the ground.

**"Nice punch,"** he said,** "Now it's my turn."** Midna saw something one his other hand flare up, a black symbol that seemed to suck in all the light around it. His fist flashed forward, crashing into the sheikah's unprotected back and flinging her into the wall in an explosion of dust and rock.

An ominous rumbling followed this impact and Midna looked up at the ceiling, "The roof!" she gasped in horror, a collapse down here could bring the entire mountain down on them. Quickly looking around she spotted the exit, dashing forward she made it two steps before stopping cold.

A pulse of life energy carried through the air, so miniscule it was nearly impossible to notice, but Midna instantly recognized it, '_He's alive!'_ the single thought caused a cacophony of emotions to swell in her chest. She found her eyes rooted to the burnt form of her previously-thought-dead servant, unable to tear herself away.

'_Move, come on Move!'_ she shouted fruitlessly in her mind. A large piece of rock crashed off to her left and suddenly she was moving again, this time towards Link. As more and more of the mountain crashed down around her she realized the chances of her making it in time were miniscule, nearly nonexistent, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

Diving onto him, she wrapped her phantom hand around his waist, straining as she lifted both of them into the air. Turning she put on a burst of speed, charging towards the exit she felt chunks of rock crashing around them, smaller pieces bouncing off of her as she gained momentum.

They slowly accelerated as Midna pushed harder than ever before, she could see the other side, looming closer as they neared until it was seconds away_, 'We're going to make it!'_ The joyous thought crossed Midna's mind and she felt elation course through her… then something hit her in the head. Veering off course, Midna lost control of her flight, crashing into the ground, still clutching Link to her chest. Skidding across the floor, Midna tightly held onto her servant, even now, faced with eminent death, she couldn't leave him behind. Rolling to a stop, Midna looked up and watched as a huge chunk of rock dislocated itself from the roof.

Closing her eyes she waited for the end… and waited… and waited, until a wet drop crashed onto her face. Eyes flashing open she stared up into the red orbs of… Skyler. He was hunched over, bent across Midna and Link as he held a huge slap of stone across his back, his features contorted into a pained grimace.

Midna blinked as another droplet of moisture hit her face and realized it was blood, slowly dripping from the person who had saved her.

"Skyler…" she said, saying his actual name for the first time since they had met.

The boy in question fixed his eyes on Midna, "**What's wrong idiot? Cat got your tongue?"** he said. He stared deeply into Midna's eyes, then, slowly, a smile split across his face, **"I guess we're even now."**

His face suddenly became serious as his legs trembled and he bent forward even farther. A grim look of determination crossed his face as he let go of the rock with one hand, straining under the weight. Reaching down he grabbed onto what was left of Links collar and looked Midna in the eye again.

**"Warp us…Now."**

(LINE BREAK)

(Skyler's POV)

A horrible churning sensation coursed through me as we warped, it felt like my body was being stretched in all directions while a boulder was slowly grated across my face. The blackness suddenly washed away as we exited the portal.

Gasping I released Link and stumbled forward a few steps, the sound of smashing rocks coming from the doorway nearby. Pain split through my head like a hot iron as I fell to my knees, clutching at my hair as I tried to regain control of my mind. Memories flashed through me, some of them from the recent battle, others from a source I could not determine.

Breathing in deeply through my nose, I struggled to regain my faculties, focusing on the loud inhale and exhale, I felt the red cloud of rage slowly seep away. With it went some of the power, dissipating through the air around me as I felt my mind struggled to become stable once again.

I gasped as pain lanced from my hand, the black force crackling as I rejected its attempts to spew out more power. "N-not again…" I panted out, "You will not control me again." I said, speaking as if saying it out loud would make it more real. The tri-force seemed to roar in anger as it gave off one final pulse of malevolent power, before slowly retreating from my conscious. Pain began to pop up from random places through my body as I felt my actions catch up to me. My back was on fire as I slowly stood up, looking wearily around the room until I spotted the other occupants.

Midna had rolled Link onto his back and was standing over him, preforming what looked like CPR compressions with little bursts of light. I stared incredulously for a second at her, thinking, '_Why would she be working over a dea-,'_ my train of thought suddenly stopped, '_He's alive.'_ The thought sent relief and panic coursing through me at the same time.

I stumbled over to them as fast as I could, crossing the distance in seconds; sinking to my knees next to them as I stared blankly while trying to think of what to do.

"Is there anything I can do?" I asked hesitantly, staring into the blackened face of the hero I had supposed invincible.

"Quiet princess!" Midna snarled, "I'm concentrating." She continued to move up and down his chest while sending bursts of energy into him. I watched her as she worked on Link, forcing more energy into this one task than I had seen her give anything else.

"Din," Midna cursed quietly as her motions started to become more sluggish, "Not enough energy." At her words, something in my mind clicked, and I was struck with a rare bout of inspiration. Seizing the initiative I quickly moved closer to them and lowered lowered my hands onto Midna's, eclipsing them in my much larger palms.

"Let me help," I said when she glared up at me. Closing my eyes I began to pull energy from the triforce again, this time carefully and with much more restraint. Slowly I pushed it through my body, pumping it into Midna's hands as she continued her work, steadily picking up vigor as I strained harder.

Sweat beaded on my brow as I continued, each second striving to push more energy through. '_I'm not losing him again.'_ I thought as pain wracked my body.

A coughing sound suddenly burst out into the silent air, causing me to flinch and lose control of my energy, the back lash shooting my hands off of Midna's. Snapping my eyes open I saw Link's shoulders heaving as he struggled to breathe in air; his breathing pulsed erratically before Midna hurried next to him and placed her hands over his lungs, sending yet more magic into them.

Links breathing steadily slowed and slowly returned to a regular pace. Midna carefully lowered her head onto his chest listening to his heartbeat. I watched, tense, waiting to see if I would be needed to come and help again.

Midna sat up slowly, staring at Links face for a few seconds before turning to look at me with a stoic face.

"He'll pull through," she said, pausing her speech for a second as she seemed to think of what to say. I waited patiently as she sorted through her thoughts, too tired to bother to interrupt her. "Thanks." She finally said, mumbling the word in a way that made her lip curl, as if she were eating something bitter.

"No prob-," I began before a large crash cut me off. Spinning around I darted to my feet, wincing as I settled into a defensive stance facing the noise. I watched with trepidation as the large rocks covering the entrance to the now caved in room trembled, denting outwards as more crashes resounded until, with a final crack, they split open, launching slivers of rock into the air.

I gaped at the sight as _Sheik_ pulled herself out of the wreckage. Her cloak was gone and blood matted her hair, one of her elbows jutted out at an odd angle and her uniform was covered in tears and rips. As she stumbled forward she grasped her elbow, hissing out as she torqued it until it popped back into socket. Slowly, she tilted her head back and looked at me.

I shuddered as our eyes met, killing intent spearing across the room. '_I'm going to have to end this fast,'_ I thought, '_I'm in no condition to fight like this.'_ Reaching to my side I gasped for my dagger, only to find it missing. Swearing I launched myself into motion, forcing all I could from my rebelling body as I charged across the room. Cocking my arm back let my fist fly, strait towards her face.

Sheik ducked to the side and I quickly turned my punch into a low block, narrowly stopping the counter strike that made my whole arm shudder. Quickly we were locked in combat; fists flying back and forth until I was forced to backpedal furiously as she threw a ferocious combination of kicks, each one causing my entire guard to shudder.

I grunted as I ducked under a spinning kick, the air from the passing attack stirring my hair. Lunging forward I rammed my shoulder into her gut, causing the sheikah to stumble back from the impact. Quickly pressing my attack I lunged into a kick, turning it into punch, then another kick; snarling as each one was blocked.

I pushed forward with all my might, struggling to keep Sheik on the defensive as I lashed out quicker and quicker, sacrificing power for speed. Belting out two quick strikes to the head, I quickly followed up with a knee, as the knee was blocked I extended my leg, catching her under the ribs with a kick that forced the air out of her mouth in a pained whistle.

I grinned as she bent over double; quickly I put myself into position and fired of a game ender, spinning around I threw the wheel kick with as much power as I could muster. My danger sense fired as my kick neared her head but I couldn't shift.

Sheik suddenly dropped, landing on all fours as my kick sailed harmlessly overhead. '_Crap,'_ I thought, panic launching through me, '_a feint.'_

Sheik dived forward cutting my leg from underneath me. I slapped my hands into the ground as I landed, but even spreading out the impact couldn't stop the stunning pain that arched from my back, immobilizing me for a few seconds. My danger sense flared again and I forced my prone body to move, only managing to partially avoid the axe kick as it crashed into my shoulder with a sickening crunch.

I felt adrenaline course through me as the blood fled from my face, I snapped a kick strait into the leering visage of Sheik, causing her to stumble back and give me enough room to roll to my feet. I clenched my teeth against the pain shooting from my shoulder, quickly noticing how my entire arm had been numbed. I looked up to see Sheik on her feet, slightly bent over as she gingerly held her ribs; in the momentary lull we locked eyes.

'_Dang it!'_ I thought, furiously trying to think a way out of my predicament, '_She's strong, and even as injured as she is she's more than a match for me… If this continues much longer-,'_ My thoughts trailed off as I cast my eyes about the room feverously, trying to find something, anything, that would help me get out of this situation alive. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught site of something, '_Yes! That will work!'_ giddy excitement coursed through me as my brain went into overdrive, playing out scenario after scenario until it found the most likely. Then I burst into action.

Rushing forwards I charged at Sheik, jumping into the air I launched a kick at her head. With the grace of a trained fighter she dropped underneath it, turning to kick at me as I landed. Shifting my shin mid-air, I deflected the kick to the right, landing unsteadily on one foot and backpedaling to keep balance.

Sheik had been thrown off ever so slightly by the missed kick, giving me time to recover. We squared off again and slowly circled each other, each waiting for the next strike. Suddenly, I saw an opening; charging in with a battle cry I spun into a back kick, causing Sheik to shift to the side to dodge, just like I wanted. Pulling the faint I spun my other leg out, catching the shiekah in the ribs and causing her to stumble backwards again.

Quickly I pressed the assault, launching into the most destructive set of kicks I knew. Attack after attack rained down on the unstable sheikah, forcing her to stay on the defensive as I slowly pushed her back. Sweat poured off my brow as I continued, pushing my body harder than I ever had before.

Sheik's guard began to falter as kicks began getting through, each attack pushing my wounded foe farther back until suddenly she stopped, her back pressed up against a wall she could go no further. I grinned in triumph as a look of fear swept across her face, this was it.

Pulling back I lashed out with all my power, sending the kick right at her face. At the last second possible, Sheik shifted, her head sliding to the side as my foot crashed into the wall, taking a few strands of her hair with it.

Sheik slid to the side lashing out with a kick that caught me in the ribs and forced me into the wall. I grunted in pain as my arm smacked into the hard rock. I looked up in horror as a triumphant look spread through Sheiks eyes, now that our positions were switched.

Her hand pulled back and the familiar sheen of magic burst into being around it, the maniacal look in her eyes increasing in intensity. She hurled her fist forward, the air hissing past as it scythed through the air. Time seemed to slow as I watched it get closer, and closer, until it collided with enough force to send crack running up the wall along with an ominous rumble. My body shook once from the impact, then all was still.

I stared with wide eyes into the startled red ones in front of me, a wet sensation trickling down my cheek as blood flowed down, seeping from the shallow cut the punch I had narrowly avoided had created. Then I flashed her a toothy smile, punching her in the gut with all of my strength as I did so.

As Sheik doubled over I grabbed her shoulders, pulling her into the wall while using the same momentum to launch myself away. A cracking sound rent through the air as I launched myself forward with all the power I could muster, the combined momentum flinging me ten feet away.

A deafening avalanche of rock thundered into the room, breaking through the damaged wall and pouring out of the crack. A huge cloud of dust and rock chips rose into the air, covering half of the room with it. Pain split across my back as I landed and the world was covered in grey.

Coughing, I slowly l pushed myself up, waving my hand around my face to clear the fog. Looking over my shoulder I blanched as I saw the rock pile had stopped mere inches from my feet.

'_That was too close,'_ I thought to myself, silently thanking whatever god had spared me. Stumbling, I walked over to where I had left Midna and Link, finding the two of them sitting there, Link unsteadily propped up with Midna's help while she practically force fed him red potion.

Something about the situation struck me as hilarious and I started tittering, then chuckling, then full out laughing. Midna glared at me from where she stood but I couldn't control it; maybe it was stress, maybe I had finally gone insane, either way I felt the energy leave my body as I slumped to the ground. The world started spinning and the black sigil on my hand flared up again; dragging in energy around it until my world was filled with a swirling vortex of black. Then I knew nothing.

(End of Chapter)

* * *

**(Omake) For those of you who don't know, Omake are little additions that play no crucial role in the plot of the story, they are just fun little additions that add to it. This was originally part of the story above but it interrupted the flow so I removed it, edited it, and posted it as an Omake! Anyways, I'd like to know what you think and if I should do more Omake or just stick with the story. **

(Midna's POV)

I cradled the blonde head in my arms, gently holding it against my chest as I stared down into the stone like visage of Link. He looked so cold, unmoving… would he ever wake up?

A light shudder ran through my body, '_Wha—what's going on?'_ I questioned myself as the new and horrible feeling coursed through me. '_It hurts.'_ I thought, '_Why does it hurt? I'm not injured… I—I'm fine and yet…"_ It was the same feeling I had gotten when I first saw him lying there, unmoving; with a start I noticed something wet running down my nose, I realized it was a tear but I couldn't bring myself to care. All my pride, all the bluster was pushed aside by the sheer power of this raw emotion.

I suddenly couldn't breathe and I gasped in, choking back a sob as my shoulders heaved. The tears kept on coming and I felt like they would never stop. The pain seemed to grow and I closed my eyes tightly to try and fight it back, I needed to destroy the monster in the cloak… I needed to stop whatever had possessed Skyler, but I couldn't bring myself to care… all that was there was the pain, the pain and a vast feeling of helplessness that accompanied it.

Suddenly something warm was pressed against my cheek.

"Why…why are you crying?" a soft voice intruded on my misery.

With a gasp my eyes snapped open, staring into the sky blue expanse I thought I would never see again.

"Link!" the overjoyed yelp escaped me and I moved before I could think, wrapping my arms around his neck and hugging him close to me.

"Aak, Midna… too… tight," Link grunted out. Quickly coming to my senses I pushed him away, eliciting another pained grunt from him.

"What do you think you were doing dog?" I said while quickly wiping away the wetness on my cheeks (You know, the wet that most certainly was not tears), "Who said you could touch me?"

I looked down into his face as he stared back up with a confused expression, "But-," he quickly cut off his sentence when I fixed him with a glare.

"Hold still," I commanded before dashing over to his bag to find a red potion. I quickly categorized the relief coursing through me as a product of no longer stressing over finding a new servant, yeah, there's no way I would care about someone so uncouth as him. Finding the potion I quickly flew back to him, not bothering to walk in my haste. Gripping him under the arms I lifted him into semi sitting position despite his protests.

"Drink," I commanded. Over time I have found that servants function better with commands, so obviously, you need to use them.

I didn't let the warm feeling that overcame me while pouring the fluid down his throat bother me, it was probably just the stress getting to me. Feeling it again when he smiled at me I thought, '_Yes, it's definitely the stress.'_

* * *

Well, that's it, I hope to see you all next time, but until then,

Guppy, out.


	8. Adventure 7: The Anti-Force

**Hey everybody! Back and rearing to go, welcome to the next chapter of On the Edge of Twilight! This is the beginning of the new arc/episode/series-of-events-thingy that will be in the story. I hope you enjoy, this chapter was one of the ones I waited a long time to write. (Maybe a little too long) But, anyways, enjoy!**

* * *

Adventure 7: The Anti-Force

_It was one of those moments… those odd occasions when you find yourself doing something that you never remember starting. It began with a thought, a single thought which evolved into motion, and then eventually I was here, walking slowly through a forest I had no memory of coming to; I had no idea for how long either, but I knew I had been moving for a long time. The air was crisp and fresh, like just after a storm, and each breath seemed to fill me with peace and contentment. There was no need to question, all was right._

_The forest was cast in a silver light, everything seeming to luminesce under the grey clouds which swirled around the sky, pierced on occasion by bright bursts of sunlight that streamed down to the ground and lit up the patches of earth with thousands of motes of light._

_Somewhere in my state of non-consciousness something in my mind began to stir; something about this place was familiar, but not in a good way. I felt a great sense of unease, almost to the point of dread, it was almost as if… no. I pushed away the memories quickly, how could something so wonderful and peaceful be associated with such thoughts._

_I sighed in appreciation as a cool breeze wafted through the foliage, seeming to caress me as it drifted by and carrying with it the smells of deep forest. I suddenly stopped, standing still and staring out in the dusky clearing in front of me; the grass on the ground shifted slightly as the wind blew through again, this time the smell even stronger. _

_I crinkled my nose in distaste at the odor… something about it was off. I shook myself slightly before pushing on, but I had yet to take my second step when another breeze blew through, this one carrying on it a stench so horrid that my stomach seized up and I felt bile rise up my throat._

_Hacking violently, my legs froze in place, I knew that smell… pushing my body into motion I clenched my teeth to prevent the coughing and turned slowly around, a slight tremble in my hands the only sign of the deep internal struggle raging inside of me. I stared out into the silver clad forest, eyes wide as I tried to take in everything at once. _

_A single drop of rain was the catalyst; I watched as it plummeted from the sky, seeming to glint in the fading light as it rotated slowly. For a single moment time seemed to stand still, stretching on as light refracted through the droplet of liquid… then the raindrop hit._

_With a mighty roar, the sky broke into a maelstrom of black energy and wind. A dark and malignant power seemed to wash through the area as water cascaded down from all sides, and soon, the entire area, myself included, was drenched. _

_I took a shaky step forward as the rain pounded across my back, small tremors overcoming my body as the intoxicating effects of the forest began to lift hazily from my vision. My breaths started coming in gasps as my eyes darted back and forth, attempting to look everywhere at once but only succeeding in blurring it all together. I could feel the panic starting to set in; I knew this place, I knew it!_

_A prick of pain resonated from my hand and it clenched involuntarily. Water continued pouring down in sheets all around me and as the wind whipped it into my face, my visibility decreased even more. The soul rending howl of the air slicing through the trees set my teeth on edge and I flinched violently as my hand pulsed again._

_Like an Amazonian drum, the thrum from my hand steadily increased in pace; a new pulse of energy following the last at a faster and faster rate. I spun wildly in circles, attempting to locate which direction __**He**__ would appear from, because there was no doubt; __**He**__ would be here. And suddenly, as quickly as it had begun, the thrumming stopped._

_The sky roared mightily one last time, raging at the injustice of its paltry demise before quieting, the hail of water diminishing into a drizzle, and then disappearing entirely. I felt my muscles freeze up as presence off to my side made itself noticed, now visible as a grey, smoky light slowly lit up the area._

"_**So nice of you to join me,"**__ the dark voice echoed coldly through the trees. I felt my hand spasm again as I caught sight of something in my peripheral vision. __**"I was beginning to wonder, it has been such a long time since we last met. I was worried someone may have interfered with the seal."**_

_My fist tightened as fear lanced through my body and my breath hissed from my mouth in ragged spurts. My chest constricted and my mind whirred about at obscene speeds as I tried to figure a way out of this. _

'_Got to get away, can't fight—got to run, body too small, gottorun! Bodyt-,' My thoughts suddenly stopped as I noticed something new. I could feel the muscles coiling inside my arms, muscles much too large for any child. I noticed the lack of wet strands of hair clinging to my neck, and I noticed how my clothes fit snugly and no longer spun around my knees, and just like that the realization dawned on me… I was in my real body, my large one. With this realization came another, I could feel the dark energy from the black brand on my hand, it was all still there; power that I could barely comprehend, just within my grasp. I was me, I was strong…I could fight._

_My body started shuddering, but this time not from fear. Adrenaline rushed through my veins, my senses seemed to heighten and the world slowed. I shifted slightly until I could easily make out the figure of the cloaked man, my muscle tensing._

_Ten feet away…then five… then three… then he stopped before me._

"_**Well…"**__ the man began in a derisive tone, __**"Have you chosen your answer?"**_

_A small smile twitched at the corner of my mouth, "Yes," I breathed out. And with that I released all my pent up frustration, pushing it through the focal point on my hand and causing the world to come to a near halt. It seemed like I had all the time in the world as I finished my turn, while moving I watched as a droplet of water slowly fell from the branch of one of the trees across the field. I noticed the odd way that the grass beneath my feet seemed to sway despite the lack of wind. And most importantly, I noticed the utterly sluggish reaction of my aggressor as he seemed to realize something was wrong._

_A malicious grin split my face as I cocked my hand back; the cloaked man was still mid-step as I released my punch, right at the side of his head. Another flare of dark energy burst into existence and suddenly everything burst back into real time._

_The cloaked man's head flew up at the same time his hand did, deflecting my fist in a shower of black sparks. My heightened awareness allowed me to sense his next attack rather than see it and I raised my knee up to deflect his retaliating kick._

_The man seemed thrown off center by my sudden burst of speed but I was already on the offensive, this time, he was the one going __**down.**__ Pulling more energy from my reserves I blasted into him, throwing punch after punch at his face._

_He reeled desperately backwards as he blocked my blows, forced on the defensive as he attempted to regain his balance. I continued to hammer into him, barely feeling any strain as my arms began to blur. I noticed the air begin to distort around my swipes, funneling into dark spirals of condensed matter as they picked up speed._

_I took a step forward… then another…. and another. Soon I was walking at a steady pace as I lashed into my enemy. His guard began to crumple and blow after blow smashed through it, each one connecting with an explosion of black sparks. Another barrage of punches slipped through and sent the man stumbling to his knees, crashing into the ground; a kick to the gut sent him skidding away, pulling up furrows od dirt as he dug his hands into the ground to stop._

_I took several measured steps forward and reached down; twisting my hand into the fabric of the hood on top of his head and yanking it up, tilting it back as well as holding it in place. As I cocked back my fist I noticed a hint of color in the depths of the cowl, an odd flash of something bright, but even my now hyper sensitive eyes couldn't see it._

_Power poured into my fist as I willed it to gather strength, gathering and condensing until a black flame surrounded my raised hand._

"_Leave me, dream demon." I announced coldly. And with that my arm snapped forward._

(LINE BREAK)

Far away in a deep, dank cavern, crammed under chains and rock older than time itself, a pained scream split the air. Echoing across the cavern the horrible, gut wrenching wail reverberated through the room, the sound so tortured and pained that the very earth around it began to weep. As it echoed it seemed to grow in intensity, increasing in volume and getting louder and higher pitched until— with another agonized cry, it began to drown itself out.

Then it suddenly dropped in volume, decreasing at a rapid rate and beginning to cut in and out of existence in a staccato like fashion. The pain in the voice dissipated, quickly replaced with a malicious overtone as it continued to drop until it reached such a low octave that it altogether disappeared from the range of human hearing. The already dead air seemed to stagnate even further as it became obvious that the _thing_ was laughing; expressing some sort of horrid glee that sucked up all happy emotion and caused the _rocks_ around it to tremble in fear.

Then, in the darkness an audible sound once again registered, a sharp _clink_ as single chain link cracked.

(LINE BREAK)

I awoke to an odd sense of calm, the vestiges of a forgotten dream tingling at the corners of my mind but disappearing just as fast as they came. I groaned groggily as I shifted, suddenly gasping as pain shot up my arm and quickly revitalized my slow moving system.

My eyes flew open as adrenaline rushed through me and I jolted up slightly, eliciting another pained moan as my back seized on itself and caused my body to curl around my gut. Squirming awkwardly onto my arm I froze as agony overcame my senses, sending spasms through my body and stealing my breath.

Suddenly I was looking at the ceiling and somebody was holding down my arm while pressing something cool into it. It took a second for my mind to process the images it was receiving, but when I could, I noticed the concerned blue eyes of Link hovering above me.

The adrenaline filled haze slowly lifted, and with it rushed in a new batch of pain, this time coming mostly from my back. Along with the pain something else unexpected came… resignation. '_It's sad,'_ I thought to myself with a sigh, '_That waking up in intense pain has happed so often it seems normal.'_ With that happy thought I moved onto the next topic on the list… where the heck am I?

"Wh—what hap'nd?" I muttered out groggily. I attempted to meet Links gaze but my vision was swimming and I couldn't make out anything clearly.

"Quiet, it'll all be okay," Link said soothingly. I felt my body relax slightly as his voice wafted into my ears and tension bled from my shoulders. I closed my eyes for a second and inhaled deeply, wincing and immediately wishing I hadn't when the slightly sulfuric tinge the air still possessed entered my nostrils.

I attempted to sit up, but my body wouldn't respond and my good arm couldn't find the strength to lift me up. I felt strong arms wrap around my back and slowly lift me into a sitting position; looking up I smiled groggily at Link. Taking notice of my surroundings I saw that we were still in the volcano… actually, we were still in the same room that I had collapsed in. The large rock fall was still there, covering a huge portion of the room and blocking off one of the doors.

I turned stiffly to look at Link, only to find my vision filled with a large bottle of sloshing red liquid as he pushed it at me.

"Drink this," came a voice from beyond the glass. Reaching up I grasped the neck and pulled it over and up to my lips. Tilting it back I drank slowly, still grimacing at the herby taste it possessed but nearly sighing at the relief it brought to the pain.

Setting it down, I wiped my mouth on the back of my hand before looking up at Link… wait, up? I cursed mentally as I sluggishly started patting down my body, grimacing after passing the waist line. Yep, I was small again.

"Uuugh, wwhhyyyy?" I groaned out dejectedly, shoulders drooping as I realized how much I was once again missing.

"Don't be so overdramatic," came a condescending voice from over my head. I craned my neck back to peer up at the shadow encrusted imp hovering over me. "Anyways," she continued, "You look better like this, much less… weird." She ended, fixing me with a searching look.

I gaped at her for a second, disbelieving. How in the world could red eyes, fangs, and claw like nails be more normal looking than my original form?! I was about to defend my old forms honor when Link startled me by suddenly standing up.

His face had morphed into a hardened mask as he slid his sword from its sheath, the rasping sound of steel sliding over hardened leather echoing across the room. I gave him a questioning glance as he slowly stalked forward, and was about to ask him what he was doing when a hand clamped over my mouth.

"Quiet idiot!" came the whispered hiss from near my ear. "Don't alert them that we're onto them!" I glared down at the hand covering my mouth before a devious idea came to me. Midna let out a disgusted curse as she quickly pulled her hand away from my mouth and began violently wiping it on the side of her leg. I grinned to myself as I attempted to scratch the taste of condensed shadow from my tongue with my nails. It tasted like burnt toast… and death.

A battle cry brought my attention back to Link and I watched as a spurt of purple icor burst through the air, quickly followed by a disintegrating bubblin head. Link flicked his sword around before re-sheathing it, and calmly walking back to us.

"The crazy things haven't given us a moment of peace since the battle." Link began as he sat down heavily next to me, "I have no idea where they're coming from but they keep trying to sneak up on us." He slowly massaged his forehead as he grumbled to himself. Then something caught my attention.

"Wait," I cried out, snapping my hand forward to latch onto his, quickly pulling it down to study. Link let out a startled grunt at the unexpected action but I was already engrossed. Prodding his hand I studied it for a second before moving on to study the rest of his body and quickly coming to the up-surd realization.

"What the heck happened to your clothes!?" I exclaimed.

"What?" Link gaped back before quickly looking himself over, "What's wrong with them?"

"Exactly!" I cried, "What happened to all the burns and scorch marks and tears!?" I asked.

Link looked dumbfounded for a second before Midna came to his rescue, "Fairy," she said.

"Huh?" I replied intelligently. Midna rolled her eyes before responding.

"Fairies, as in the healing sprites." Seeing my look of confusion she continued, "There was a nearby spring and that rock-a-lanch you created opened it up and revealed a couple fairies. I caught one and brought it back to Link and had it heal him." I stared at her for a second.

"But the clothes?!" I exclaimed, gesticulating wildly. Seeing a look of confusion on her face I quickly dropped the issue. Yet another thing to add to the 'many things that magic can do' list, automatic repair service… I wonder if it does T.V's.

Shaking my head I stood up slowly, grimacing as pain shot through my hand. Once up I twisted a little, noticing that there was something wrapped around my torso.

"Careful," came Links voice, "I just finished bandaging up your back and if you do too much it could open up again."

I looked down and noticed the frayed and slightly bloody shirt I was still wearing and grimaced, even from here I was able to see the bandages through tears in the fabric; or more correctly, I was able to see the strands of fabric still covering the bandages. '_Wait,'_ suddenly a thought struck me, '_If he got bandages on under my shirt he had to…'_

A brilliant blush suddenly split my face and with speeds I thought impossible I turned around and smacked him right across the face, screaming, "Pervert!" in a high and very shrill voice. Clutching my arms across my body I turned away and squatted down, glaring into the ground and trying to stop the rush of blood to my cheeks.

After a few seconds of self-righteous fury, the feelings dissipated and I began to notice awkward silence that had greeted my actions. Conscious thought began to take root again and the first thing that popped into my mind was, '_Why the freakin' fudge did you do that?!' _ I dropped my hands from my face as if they were on fire and stared down at the traitorous appendages with a mounting sense of horror. Why the heck should I care if Link had to take off my shirt to apply some bandages, it was helping me, '_Plus!'_ my mind screamed out in addition, '_You're a freaking guy!'_

My gender identity crisis was put on hold as something crashed into the back of my head, sending a sharp pain coursing along my scalp and causing me to yelp and stagger forward a few steps.

"Midna!" came a scandalized exclamation from behind me, "What did you do that for?"

"She deserved it," the imp replied snidely. I turned around and glared at the imp in question while delicately rubbing my head; she just fixed me with another of her condescending smirks before hopping back into Links shadow. Shaking myself off, I looked up into Links face and saw him tenderly rubbing a faint red hand print on the side of his cheek. Seeing the print I felt an odd sense of guilt overcome me...along with a mild sense of panic.

"Sorry," I mumbled in apology as I twisted my foot in the dirt, "Don't know why I did that bu—"

"Don't worry about it," Link cut in, "You're probably just tired." he ended with a slight grin. Turning around he bent over and began picking up our supplies and stuffing them into his bag. After about minute he got up and turned to look at me.

"You ready to go?" he asked with a roguish smile.

(LINE BREAK)

"HOLY S-!" My exclamation of surprise was drowned out by the roar of a giant fiery chain crashing in the wall, the impact sending shards of jagged rock spinning across the room.

"The ankle chains! Grab the freakin' ankle chains!" I screamed at Link as I dove, once again, under the legs of the possessed giant we were attacking. I quickly scrabbled out from behind him as the magma dripping golem continued to flail around blindly, flinging spatters of molten rock across the room and raising the already high ambient temperature of the room to a nearly unbearable point.

"Shoot… the eye- my butt!" I cursed to myself through pants as I dove behind another pillar and pressed my back to it. Everything had been going fine until Midna inserted her two cents. We, well, Link, had been dancing around the creatures feet, cutting into it and slowly widdling away the hardened rock while I took pot shots at it with the flame rod. Sure, my contribution may have been small, seeing as you _can't_ burn a fire golem; but it did a good job at staggering it.

Just a little longer and it would have toppled over from fatigue, but then Midna gave Link the great idea to blind it.

I soft _pink_ echoing from my hand alerted me that the rod was ready for use again and I carefully inched around the corner to peek at the flailing behemoth. A small arrow stuck out of a vaguely diamond shaped structure in the middle off its flat face, and apparently, if the screams were anything to go by, it was very painful.

"Burn!" I shouted, pointing the rod in the monsters general direction and hanging on for dear life as the force of the flame expulsion shoved me back a couple feet. The haphazardly cast shot soared by the golem, barely nipping its shoulder as it passed, but even the glancing blow was enough to stagger the beast. The giant took several lurching steps backwards as it tried to maintain its balance, waving its arms wildly all the time; suddenly, one of the chains around its feet went taut, snapping its foot out from underneath it and sending the beast smashing into the floor, dousing its flames.

The wand let out a short farting noise as it launched another piece of parchment into the air. I distractedly caught it, sparing a passing glance before doing a double take and looking back.

'Amazing aim tiny, maybe next time you could actually _point_ at the _GIANT_ standing target,' it read. Hissing angrily I crumpled up the ball and tossed it over my shoulder before turning to find Link. I found him at the moment when he was clapping his heels together, his body bobbing up slightly from the now nonexistent weight, as he tossed the now limp chain from his hands.

Giving off a burst of speed he quickly dashed over to the golem, rushing around its side while he yanked his sword from its sheath. Skidding to a halt, he quickly spun in front of the golems face, raising his blade high into the air and bringing it down in a spinning arc.

The blade skidded off of the hardened crystal in a shower of sparks, severing the wooden shaft of the arrow as it did so. Without missing a beat, Link allowed himself to turn with the reflected momentum and brought his sword slicing around at an even greater velocity. The beast howled as a cracking sound accompanied the next shower of sparks, but Link didn't let up.

Clang after clang of steel on stone filled the room until, with a flash, the beast suddenly relight in flame.

**GWWWOOoooohhHHHH!** The golem let out a frightening roar as it lurched to its feet, the floor around it cracking and sending Link sprawling onto his back. The beast staggered as it clutched its head between its hands, crashing into another support pillar and sending it flying in my direction.

I flinched and quickly yanked myself back behind my pillar, just in time as shards of stone ricocheted off of my cover, several of them tearing deep gouges into the ground where I had previously been standing.

"Link!" I called out once the sound of flying rock had stopped, quickly spinning around the corner to find him. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw that he was still on his feet, having ducked behind another pillar in time to avoid the debris. The golem let out another roar as it lumbered forward, this time instead of blindly swinging its chains it was punching madly at the air, demolishing anything in that got in its path.

I felt the blood drain from my face as it crashed into a wall, bouncing off and in a different direction, now heading towards me. Turning I shoved myself from the pillar, kicking off as hard as I could and propelling myself into a full on sprint. A loud crash behind me alerted me to the destruction of my 'cover,' and I put on another burst of speed.

"Hey ugly, over here!" a shout echoed from across the room. I skidded to a halt behind another pillar as the earth shaking footsteps slowed and then stopped, a moment of silence permeated the room before several slow and ponderous rumbles indicated that the golem was turning around. A low growl echoed from deep within the beast.

I peeked around the corner in time to see a flash of green, right before it disappeared under the bulk of the golem, its running charge carrying it into the ground with enough force crack the rock and shake the ceiling. My breath caught in my throat and I felt my muscles seize up. Several seconds passed in absolute silence, tension visibly rising in the air, before a low rumbling chuckle began to emanate from the golem, the cold and malicious sound causing my knees to shake and slowly buckle beneath me.

As my knees hit the floor another sound suddenly broke the silence.

"Midna, now!" the shout echoed across the room, shortly followed by a green blur streaking through the air. The golem jerked up in surprise and turned around towards the source of the noise, just in time to catch the green object in the face.

Link let out an animalistic roar as he drove his sword into the crystal, the momentum of his flying body driving it in even deeper and sending the beast, hero and all, crashing to the floor, the impact throwing up a thin layer of dust.

I watched, mouth gaping, as the dust cloud swirled around before slowly dissipating, revealing the slowly blackening form of the golem. It spasmed slightly before, with a final jerk, bursting into thousands of dark, blue black motes. The vaguely square shaped black matter floated lazily around the room for a second before, with a barely noticeable breeze; it rushed in towards the center, gathering into a large black sphere that seemed to radiate light. After a few seconds the light dimmed and the sphere dissipated, leaving in its place an oddly shaped rune filled stone hovering above the unconscious body of a large Goron.

I slowly stepped out from behind the pillar, at the same time I noticed Midna carefully float over to the slab, her phantom hand gingerly extending to grab it before quickly yanking it into some sort of dimensional pocket. She muttered something I couldn't hear before turning to Link, who was now standing next to her.

I walked up to them as they stood staring down at the unconscious form of the Goron Patriarch. Link looked down at me and flashed me a smile.

"H-how? How did you do that?" I asked, still a little overwhelmed by all that had happened.

"Oh, Midna threw me." Link answered distractedly, waving in her general direction. I looked over to Midna, then back at Link, noticing the distinct difference in height and therefore most likely weight.

Seeing my confusion, Midna rolled her eyes before extending her ponytail into its much larger, and vaguely hand shaped form. "Magic, nitwit," she said.

I glared darkly at the imp before Link distracted me again. He marched over to the unconscious Goron and reached down behind him, plucking up something just out of my view. Rising up he slipped it discreetly into one of his pockets before turning around to look at us.

"Okay, let's go," he said. Midna nodded before a look of concentration crossed her face and, slowly, a blackish blue portal wavered into existence upon the ground. Link walked over until he was standing on the cusp, glancing back at me he stuck out his hand. I looked around the destroyed room one last time before hesitantly stepping away from the damaged Goron. Reaching out I grasped Link's hand, and with a pulling sensation, everything went black.

(LINE BREAK)

A stern gaze met my angry glare as I stood fuming in the doorway.

"No," Link reiterated. I sputtered for a second in blind fury.

"Why the heck not!?" I shouted back at him, arms flying into the air as my emotions became more vivid.

"I've already told you," Link replied in a weary voice, pinching his nose and releasing a long suffering sigh, "It's too dangerous."

"Dangerous my a-," My sentence was cut off when something wrapped around my mouth, cutting off my air and pulling me backwards.

"Shut up," the terse whisper came from my shadow, "Someone's coming."

Angrily I stomped on my shadow, futilely attempting to dislodge the hand until, with a disgusted sigh, the shadow released me. Turning I fixed Link with a glare that clearly stated that we would finish this conversation later, before plastering a fake smile on my face.

After a few moments of silence the soft tap of feet on stone could be heard and within seconds we came face to face with Luda. Pausing in mild surprise, she blinked once before smiling.

"Oh, good, I was looking for you two. Father says it's time for supper." She said lucidly, clasping her hands behind her back before fixing us with another wan smile and walking past us. I fixed Link with a questioning glance but he refused to meet my gaze, instead turning his head away and beginning the trek to the inn.

"Psht, weenie," I insulted under my breath. The fact that he wouldn't look me in the eyes just reinforced the knowledge that I was in the right and only succeeded in adding fuel to my burning indignation. I followed several steps behind him and we traveled in uncomfortable silence for the duration of our short walk, until we arrived at the poorly lit doorway of the inn.

Walking inside I was assaulted by the odor of sweat, beer, and oddly enough, fresh bread. The large room was abuzz with activity; Gorons, Kakarikans, even the odd traveler or two chatting and conversing. An odd patch of silence greeted us as we walked by; the friendly face of the occasional Kakariko native drawing slightly; large, rock dwelling Gorons bowing just noticeably, but everywhere were the eyes; unrelenting and pursuing, they followed our every step… or rather _his_ every step.

I grumbled to myself and folded my arms unhappily. 'He wasn't the only on there you know!' I wanted to shout at the crowd, 'I helped too!' I wanted to exclaim. But of course I didn't. After all, I was just the side kick, and no one ever noticed the support, no, only the hero got recognition for the deeds he and his posse completed… I was just the unnoticeable little, erm— not-girl— that helped him along the way.

I noticed, with a hint of sadistic pleasure that Link seemed quite uncomfortable under the scrutiny and I smirked ever so slightly as I watched him squirm. In the week since we had returned to Kakariko, Gorons had begun flowing in, all of them carrying stories of the 'Hero in Green', as he was now being called, and his amazing endeavors inside the volcanic mountain.

However it was not until the patriarch himself came down that Links status was raised from 'Lucky' to 'Legendary.' The large Goron has come down to _personally_ thank the green clad Hylian, going so far as to declare him an honorary Goron as well as regaling us all with the story of his ability to 'summon earthquakes.' Jealously was, of course, an ugly emotion, but when someone else is taking credit for the deeds _you_ did, even if by accident, you tend to feel a little bit cheated.

It's not as if Link didn't attempt to set the facts straight, but when Midna raised the point about how telling people of my little 'attack'— as we had decided to refer to it— was unwise. Although I had grudgingly agreed I was still a little bitter, after all, what was the point of defeating a high class enemy if you couldn't rub it in others faces?

So this, among other things, had contributed to the growing contention between Link and I. We had been spending less time around each other; the green clad hero going off to wherever it is he goes, while I brooded to myself. Link used this as one of his excuses for his most recent revelation, but I couldn't help but feel there was something more to it.

So it was with an air or malcontent that Link and I walked to the opposite sides of the small room Renaldo had set aside for our meal, each of us sitting as far away from the other as physically possible. The man in question quirked an eyebrow at our odd behavior but wisely kept quiet about the matter. We waited a little longer for Luda to arrive with Talo and the other children before we all began to eat. A melancholy air settled over the table, so much so that even the kids noticed. The silence continued on, occasionally broken by the occasional cough of tinkle of silverware; until the dreaded moment came.

"Renaldo, there something I need –," Link began.

"No!" I interrupted loudly, banging my fists on the table. Link fixed me with longsuffering look before continuing.

"As I was saying—,"

"No!" I cut in again, "I'm going with you and nothing you say is going to change that!"

"Sam—," he tried again, exasperatedly.

"I'm going!" I exclaimed heatedly, fury rising at how he refused to listen.

"S—,"

"No!" I yelled. Link continued to futilely attempt to speak past me but there was no way I was going to allow it. Finally he seemed to have had enough.

"SAM!" He exclaimed loudly; slamming his fists on the table and standing up quickly, chair crashing to the floor behind him with a bang. I immediately shut up, an odd sense of fear overcoming me as his figure seemed to loom over the table. It was the closest I had ever seen him to furious, his shoulders were heaving with repressed emotion and his face was taut and strained.

"I have tried," he began in a tight voice, "To be patient, but your insistence to act like a child has forced me to treat you like one." I felt something in my chest rebel at his comment. "It is for everyone else's safety as much as your own that I came to this decision and you're making it _much more difficult than it needs to be_!" He exclaimed, voice rising till he was nearly shouting. Renaldo stood up slowly.

"Link," he began in a calming voice but Link cut him off.  
"No, let me finish." He said, his gaze never leaving mine. "You need to stay here. I will continue on and find the rest of the…" he paused for a second, considering his words, "…the _information_ we need." I began shaking my head in disagreement, a sense of betrayal coming over me.

"No-," I tried again, but this time a lot less confidently.

"Sam," Link cut in again, "Think. You need to grow up." His words cut into me, striking my heart and tearing something that had been attempting to hang on to… denial. "This isn't a game."

His words echoed inside me, rolling around and around in my head and causing pain wherever they went. I felt my breath seize up in my chest, and an odd prickling sensation in the corner of my eyes.

"No…" the denial came out soft and broken sounding, echoing out with barely a hint of the pain I felt. Before I knew what was happening I was running; out the door of the room, through the mocking crowds of late night revelers, and across the floor of the room of lies. I felt something streaming down my face, tears I think, but I didn't care. My chest felt like it was on fire and each breath was ragged and forced, my mind whirled about as it tried to make sense of the muddled mess my life had become and I felt the world pressing in around me.

'_This isn't a game,'_ the words echoed through my mind again and again until I felt a sob choke its way from my throat. I realized it now and it scared me, this was real, everything was real. The dirt under my feet, the buildings I ran by, and Link, gah, Link. The entire time I had been here I had been in a state of denial, this wasn't my world, it wasn't real, it was just a game. I had been going through it as such, acting like a goofy cartoon character because if I died it wasn't real, I would just restart.

Morphed body? No problem, it was just an odd character skin, not real, just all in my head.

But now that comforting veil had been torn away and I was alone… all alone. My family, were they okay? I had spent all my time focusing on myself, not spending a spare second on them or anyone else, just selfish self-focus. Would I ever see them again? Had they noticed I was gone?

Something else inside me broke. As if in tune with my inner self the dark sky seemed to break as well, soft droplets of water began cascading from the sky as the hungry clouds opened their maws. I couldn't feel them, I couldn't feel anything, my body was numb as it ran blindly through the motion, occasionally tripping and sending itself sprawling, only to pick itself back up and continue on its panicked sprint. Mud began to well up as the rain continued to pour down, seeping from the ground and slowing down my movement to a sloshing jog.

I wondered if I would ever get home. Up until now I had blindly accepted the fact that this was like a game, and in order to get home all I had to do was beat it; but what if that wasn't the case? What if I was stuck here forever?

Panic coursed through me and my speed increased. Eventually hazy shapes began to appear in the dark, solidifying into tombstones as I drew near. I dodged past the monolithic death icons as I continued on my mad run until my foot caught on something. I flew through the air with the combine force of my speed and the slickness of the ground.

The dirt rose to meet me with a jarring thud, and I was sent skidding across the water-slick ground, slipping and sliding until I crashed into stone and came to an abrupt stop. I lay there, stunned, staring up at the pouring rain. Slowly I curled up into a ball, knees coming up to my chest and arms wrapping around them, feebly hugging them closer in an attempt to keep what was left of myself from fleeing, from leaving the shell my body had become.

And as numbness overcame my limbs my mind finally cracked. I cried, thick tears streaming from my eyes and mixing with the muddy rain. Silent sobs wracked my body and I mourned for my family, I mourned for my inability to continue deceiving myself, I mourned for my old life… but most of all, I mourned for what was to come, and in selfish desire, I could feel only my own self-pity.

The rain continued to pour, and I continued to cry and the dark that was the sky grew and grew until it claimed all.

(LINE BREAK)

I stared emptily at the grave marker in front of me, sitting in the same position I had been for the last several hours. It's been nearly a week since he left, well, left for the second time. He had returned with Telma and a wagon to take the kids back to Ordon. Link had wanted me to go with them, but I refused… something about it just felt wrong.

Unlike the first time, I accepted his refusal to let me accompany him without complaint. Ever since that night in the rain I had felt empty, lifeless and without purpose. I had followed him when he came here to retrieve the Zora armor, I knew how to move the stone and get back there, I just didn't feel like doing it.

I could tell that Renaldo and Luda were worried about me; I spent almost all of my time out here, only coming back for meals and sleep, but only because they refused to bring me my food.

Again, I don't know why, but something about this area called to me, kept me coming back and seemed to ease my grief. I know it seems childish, but I felt like I had lost something truly important, something more important than even my home world… my family.

So that's was how I had spent my time, staring at a tomb stone with glazed eyes and distant thoughts, reminiscing all of the events and people I had taken for granted before.

A soft buzzing sound snapped me out of my reveries, and I looked up to find myself face to face with a glowing blue orb.

_'Fairy,'_ I catalogued instantly. It just hovered there, doing nothing, so after a moment I looked away losing interest.

Bonk!

"Ow, hey! What the heck!" I cried, rubbing my bruised forehead. The fairy just bobbed up and down in a satisfied manner before flying over to the stone and landing on it. I stood up slowly and walked over to where it was, curious… plus, for something so small, it really hurt when crashing into your head. It took me a couple seconds to realize what it wanted.

"You want me to move the stone?" I asked, hesitantly.

The fairy pulsed green for a second and bobbed up and down excitedly. I stared for a second longer before giving in and pressing my shoulder to the stone. Then I pushed. And pushed… and pushed some more.

"Come on!" I shouted out angrily, taking a step back to ram into it harder. All that I got was a bruised shoulder. I stood huffing from exertion and glaring at the giant stone. Link had made it look so easy, a simple shove and, boom, it was moved. But the stupid thing probably weighed more than I did, and my week of laziness sure hadn't helped my strength.

A tinkling sound brought my attention back to the fairy as it shook slightly in the air.

_'Wait…'_ I thought, '_Is… is that thing laughing at me!?'_ The fairy seemed to read my thoughts and the tinkling increased in intensity. I felt a blush creep its way up my cheeks.

"Well, if you think it's that easy then why don't you try!" I exclaimed, pointing accusingly at the blue light. The tinkling abruptly stopped and the fairy began pulsing an angry red, slowly drifted over to me. I felt a shiver run across my spine as it drew near, and I raised my hands in front of me defensively, backing up slowly.

"Uh, hey, I take it back?" I tried shakily, "Umm, sorry? Gomen? Pardon moi? Don't hurt me!" I exclaimed throwing my arms in front of my face. I stood like that for a few seconds, shivering, before I felt something tap my hand, right on the black tri-force.

I gasped as power coursed up through my body, filling it with an almost angry energy, then it suddenly rushed away, leaving me feeling invigorated and full of energy. I dropped my hands and stared at the pulsing black mark before looking up at the fairy who was now back to blue and drooping slightly.

"Um, thanks," I said, blushing from embarrassment and scratching the back of my neck. Well, in my defense it looked like it was trying to hurt me, not help me. Shaking my head I walked back up to the stone and gave it a solid shove, this time it move easily, but with it I felt a portion of my recently gained energy leave.

The fairy zipped past my face and through the revealed entry way, and I quickly followed. Coming inside I gasped. The place was beautiful. A deep, aquamarine blue pond dominated it center, surrounded by bounteous green and exotic plant. Fairies hovered above the water, dancing back and forth in a display on luminous, multicolored lights.

I felt something tap my elbow, and I looked down to see my companion moving in a beckoning motion. I followed distractedly, completely entranced by the beautiful sight before me. It wasn't until we reached our destination that my companion once again received my attention.

Before us stood a monolithic stone, covered in moss and ancient, faded runes; it looked like the doors of Moria from Lord of the Rings. The fairy began buzzing excitedly and flew between my hand and the stone repeatedly.

Getting the message I reached up and placed my hand on the stone. The rock was cool and moist beneath it, smooth in a way that no rock I had ever felt before was like. The blue fairy slowly circled around me before coming to a rest on my hand, wings folding up as its feathery weight settled.

It was then I felt it, a pulse, a thrum in the stone… almost like it was alive. Intrigued I probed farther, sending out faint traces of energy from my tri-force and into the stone. The world seemed to fade as I release more and more, until it looked like everything was a muted grey. I saw, stumbling from my hand, black, tentacle like objects, peeling through the transparent stone in front of me. And deep, deep, inside, I saw a pulsating golden sphere.

I felt my mouth go dry at the power I felt radiating from that sphere. It was unbelievable— unimaginable! With that much power anything was possible; I could create a world, I could bend time, I could—I could get home!

Pressing forward with renewed vigor I watched as the black tendrils lurched forward sluggishly. I cursed at the time it was taking them and pushed in more power… then the world around me lurched. The golden sphere lit up in a blinding display of light, whiting out my vision and causing me to stagger backwards… or would have if my hand wasn't sealed to the wall.

Faster than I could act I felt something seize onto the energy I had sent out, spiraling up the trails at a dizzying pace. I felt fear course through me as I attempted to sever the contact, but nothing happened.

The light continued traveling up and up until I crashed into me.

I think I might have screamed, I really don't know. My body felt like it was on fire; molten rock hissing through my veins and an unbearable sense of anguish gripping my soul.

The anguish slowly morphed, changing from fear and pain to anger and frustration. I felt total indignation, at what I didn't know, but all I knew was that I need to destroy something—

'_No!'_ I mentally shouted, heaving with all my might and pulling my mind from the huddled mass of rage. I clenched my teeth and pulled against the bonds but nothing happened. A low moan escaped me; the rage and power from before threatening to overtake me while the sickening energy continued to pulse up my hand. Clamping down hard, I bit my cheek, focusing on the pain and holding on tightly to my sanity. My other hand slowly crept up to my head, latching on and digging the nails in, attempting to pull the invading presence out.

I could faintly hear talking in the background but I could make no sense of it; thoughts poured unbidden into my mind, voices began to serenade me with their opinions, a bastardized symphony of discordant thoughts and feelings.

**"Listen to me,"** said one.

**"Ignore him, he has no idea of what he speaks!"** another shouted.

"**Discount them both!"**

"**Bring me power!" **yet another one spoke.

** "Drink their blood!"**

"Stop!"I shouted, gripping my head harder.

"**Bathe their sins in cleansing light!" **the voices continued on unhindered.

** "Destroy the usurper!"**

** "Restore the balance!"**

"Leave me in peace!" I tried again, this time more forcibly, but all it seemed to do was encourage them.

"**Avenge us!"**

"**Silence the Black King!"**

** "Death to the Cold One!" **each shout echoed, mingling with the others and forming a barrier of repeating phrases.

"QUIET!" I screamed, my voice echoing off the walls of my head, bringing an instant and total silence. I trembled slightly as I felt myself begin to relax, then the murmuring began again, this time quiet and jumbled in a way I couldn't comprehend.

**"Silence,"** a single voice rose above the others, filled with a great power and mystique, it sent a reverent quiet over my mind.

I gasped as something cold latched onto my psyche, pulling me into an enveloping grip as it attempted to tear me from my temporal anchors.

'_No!'_ I thought; panic welling inside me as I fought back with all my might, pushing against the vast force that was attempting to take over me.

**"Peace little one, we mean you no harm,"** the voice returned, bringing with it an unfounded and irrational sense of calm. Slowly I felt the fight leave me, the alien presence slowly pulling me farther and farther away, until only a thin thread of life connected my spirit to my body.

Suddenly, I found myself standing in a dark cavern; the only light coming from my faintly glowing body. I blinked slowly as I looked around me, seeing nothing but never-ending blackness, spreading in every direction.

**"We have waited long for you, little one," **I spun around to look for the source of the voice, stopping dead at the sight of the giant, multifaceted, golden gemstone in front of me.

_'No… not a gemstone,'_ I thought as I watched the black dot in the center swivel to focus on me, '_An eye.'_

**"Quite the observant one are you not?"**the eye said, taking on a humorous tone.

"Y—you can hear my thoughts!?" I sputtered out, quickly back pedaling away from the eye.

**"You do not do a very good job of keeping them quiet, they are actually painfully loud." **The eye began, **"But that is not the reason we are here. I, and through me them, are here to speak with you about much greater matters, the reason behind your presence in this world and to reveal to you the power you bear branded on your left hand."**

I felt myself gaping at the eye; I couldn't find words I was searching for as I attempted to formulate a question. Then something chilling dawned on me.

"Wait, you? Are you the one who's been attacking me in my dreams?" The accusation came out weak and pathetic, and if I was true to myself, I dreaded the answer. If a being powerful enough to steal into my dreams had managed to pull me into his realm… well then, I was screwed.

**"There will be time for questions later,"** the voice said again, **"Our time here is limited so I will make this short."**

I closed my open mouth with a snap as a serious presence overcame the voice, I could feel it vibrating through the air; whatever it had to say was important.

**"An ancient evil has arisen; its power, power that you have felt in your dreams," **well, that answered my question, **"is slowly but surely returning and with it will come untold misery and woe."**The eye narrowed slightly as it continued, **"You have been brought here to aid the last defender of light in his quest to destroy this power."**

"Wh-what? The last defender of light—you mean Link?" I managed to stutter out. The eye simply stared at me, giant black pupil swiveling ominously… and then it dawned on me.

"Wait. Brought here? _You_ brought me here?" I began; a chilling feeling warping down my back… the silence gave me my answer. "…_You_," I gritted out, hands trembling in barely suppressed rage, "YOU!" My shout rang out across the empty space, one finger pointing accusingly at the mocking golden orb, "_You_ brought me here, _you_ stole my soul from my planet and planted it here; here in a place based off of a GAME!" by now my whole body was shuddering, the indignity! What gave him the right to do this?! What gave him—?

"**Silence,"** the voice echoed out; it didn't change in pitch, tone, or anything conceivable, but something about it was so cold that it froze my very blood.

**"Such foolish notions cloud your mind. You have seen and felt the world around you, reveled in its magic's, and yet you still cling to the imprudent conception that you are dwelling in a realm coded by laughable computer technicians." **He ended in a condescending tone.

"W—what are you talking about?" I questioned, "I've seen this game, I've p—played through it all! This it just a world modeled off of-," my throat constricted as the eyelid lowered more, cutting off my speech.

**"It is as real as anything can be, if you die here, you are dead for good."**

I felt something in me shrivel, and I realized it was the deluded and irrational hope that getting back home would be easy.

"Then how? How do I get home?" I asked quietly, voice cracking slightly. The presence paused before answering.

**"Complete your mission. Destroy the evil that is permeating this realm and restore the balance and then, and only then, will your path home be illuminated." **The voice said, **"But know this, not everything is as it seems. Evil has a way of slipping through the cracks; you must always be wary of what it will attack you with next."**

"S-so… all I have to do… is beat Gannondorf?" I questioned feebly. Something about the eyes presence was so powerful and wise that, as soon as my rage had dissipated, I found it hard to speak. A weary sigh split through the air, a stream of hot wind blowing past me at the same time and ruffling my hair.

**"If only it were that simple. No, the world you know from your game is fiction based off of fact. Hyrule is a very real place." **The voice seemed to mellow as the sentence drifted off, then it picked up again, **"A lesson on the history of your worlds would be long, arduous, and take much more time than we have. So I will give you a condensed version."**

I watched as the large eye dimmed slightly, glazing over and viewing something that was not there. The giant, gold plated eyelid slowly slid closed until only a sliver still showed; bright, glowing, and directly in front of me.

**"The universe if filled with many wonders; untold bounties of knowledge waiting to be reaped by those who know how. In the beginning of our recorded time, your galaxy was naught but rubble and space. An empty slate of galaxy if you will, and it was here that we established a new realm. Bound by peace and governed by justice, it was to be a utopia, a place where life came to seek refuge… and in the beginning, it was."** The voice seemed to droop, and an almost tangible sense of sadness filled the air.

**"But, alas, the utopia was not to be. Usurpers from within began to riot and stir up contention, filling the new system with their lies and deceits, and before we knew it, there was war." **The voice seemed to harden, and for the first time since I had arrived I could feel and hear its anger, **"They destroyed much, all under the name of revolution, and before long, this galaxy was nothing but planets void of life, desolation where we had created so much. It was from here that an ancient evil arose, one that would be referred to as… demons, in your tongue."**

I was taken aback a second before the words caught up to me, and I nearly scoffed… key word being nearly. It turns out that a giant golden eye can give quite the scary glare.

**"I assure you that this is no joke. Evil attracts evil, and the more of it there is, the greater it becomes. As such, by the time the true threat became known, it was far too late. It spread like the plague you mortals so feared, and before long all life in this quadrant of the galaxy had been eliminated." **I could feel something catch in my chest at his words, they just sounded so… I couldn't describe it, but somehow I knew what this being spoke was true.

**"As a last resort, a plan was made to seal the beast; the greatest minds came together and created a plan, a plan that would stop this evil once and for all. One of the few remaining strong holds was split in twain, rent into two different worlds and bounded on different sides of a dimensional rift, connected by a single nexus of power. It was in this nexus that the beast was sealed…" **the voice trailed off slowly, seeming to sink into thought.

I waited for what felt like eons before working up the courage to ask.

"Then what?" I asked timidly. The eye blinked once before refocusing on me.

**"It wasn't enough," **he said simply, **"The nexus was simply too weak to hold a greater demon of that caliber, and for a while it seemed like it would fail, but then came salvation. When all seemed lost, out from the sky came beings of unimaginable power, beings that you refer to as gods and those in Hyrule call the goddesses."** I gaped at the revelation; the goddesses of this realm were real as well?

**"With their help, the nexus was sealed and the demon stopped. The two worlds used to bind it were connected in such a way that they would continually support each other, as such, what happens on one effects the other. These worlds are Hyrule and your Earth."**

For a while I just sat there, staring into space and thinking.

"So… this demon, it's somehow breaking free of the nexus?" I asked, more talking to myself than really asking the question.

**"Yes, and it has come perilously close to breaking the barriers. The only hope, the last remaining power of the seal, is branded on your hand."** My eyes snapped down to my hand, looking at the black mark with a new sense of awe… and dread.

**"It is called the anti-force. As you have felt, it draws in the power of others, sealing it and preparing it for use. Its capabilities are only as limited as the person who wields it; it was this creation, combined with the tri-force of the goddesses, that created the original seal." **The voice suddenly stopped, and an ominous rumble that sounded suspiciously like an annoyed hiss filled the room.

"**Our time is running out. Suffice it to say, Gannondorf is meddling with powers he does not understand. He found the entrance to the nexus on this world and has been dabbling with the dark magic's it radiates. Soon, the Demon will be released, and the worlds will collapse. Find the tri-force and seal the power before it is too late…"** The voice slowly drifted off and the world began to swirl around me. Flashes of color appeared in my vision and I swayed dangerously. I teetered for a second on the brink of consciousness before, with a final burst of light, I faded into unconsciousness.

* * *

**A/N Hey! So, tell my your thoughts. Review, leave hate mail, whatever strikes you, I love comments on my work. (Especially if they help me improve .) Also, if you have any fun ideas for Omake, please send them in, I'd love to hear them!**


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